My home is gone, but I'll help get yours back if I can
by Adeleidhis
Summary: A girl from a zombie apocalypse escapes frm a horde and finds her way to the shire. (Didn't see hat coming right?) Would she be an asset to the company, or is she too far gone from humanity and sanity to keep around? I hope you enjoy ( )
1. Chapter 1

Alicia ran through the wood, jumping this way and that to through the zombies off her tail. The wodds slowed them down of course, but didn't stop the chase entirely. She had no choice, time to be strategic about this. Forty or fifty zombies after her, and she was getting tired. She decided to use the 'sitting duck' strategy. This involved waiting for a small number of zombies to get to her, kill them and keep going until she eventually picked them all off. This allowed time to recover if done correctly. Luckily, Alicia had done this many times before. This unofficial mercenary work was what she specialized in. She was a runner. Which meant it was her job to get in and out with supplies as quickly as possible and kill zombies or anything else that tried to break into their colony. This time however, things got more out of hand due to another group of marauders and zombies coming from both sides, one of her friends got shot. She threw homemade bombs towards the marauders which attracted zombie hordes their way and allowing her and her friends to slip out more easily.

Their were still undead on their tail. During the retreat, she got separated from her group and had to double back to the woods for safety. Out of breathe, and thankfully, out of danger for the moment, Alicia took a moment to catch her breathe. She was splattered in gore and bloody muck. This was often a good thing, despite the smell, to blend in with the undead. She found an opening as she wearily dragged her feet onwards, having no idea where to go, (except backwards to the horde) or which way she was going now.

She broke through the brush, staring out into the open meadow. It looked so peaceful and beautiful, making her feel like a stain on such harmonious perfection. Her legs burned so she plopped down on the ground to rest.

" Good heavens!" A voice cried out. Alicia cursed herself for dropping her guard so much. To her left came a rather short fellow with no shoes and the hairiest feet she had ever seen. ( And she thought he toes were hairy…) Slowly she sat back up, trying not to look like a threat. However, the little man still stepped back with a look on his face of both horror and concern.

" Are- Are you alright? Should I get a medic for you?" He said, slowly putting down his full bags of food.

Alicia stiffened in confusion at him. ( Who is that kind and trusting anymore outside of their colony?)

She tried to speak, but her voice was hoarse and quiet still.

" M-My name is Bilbo Baggins of the Shire. Don't worry I won't hurt you. I daresay you look like you stepped off of a battle field."

" I…yes." Alicia stuttered as she picked herself slowly. " I'm sorry. I'm not sure how far I am from home, I've been on the run for days. Can you tell me where I am currently?"

Biblo adjusted his vest, eyeing her bloody clothing warily, " Well miss, you're not too far from the Shire, my home. You poor thing. Would you like to accompany me to my house? I can give you some warm tea and you can wash up, I can call a medic if you need."

Alicia was so taken aback by his kindness, this was what Alicia had hoped her colony and others would one day remember this humanity. " I would greatly appreciate that sir." She motioned to his bags. " May I help?"

After a moment of hesitation, he consented and she carried two of his bags and he carried the third. She quietly, eerily like a ghost almost, followed him obediently to his home. He made sure to take to take the least busiest paths to his home, for fear of being seen with a very tall woman covered in blood and smelling like the butcher forgot to clean out his kitchens after a few weeks.

" I'm sorry dear, I don't believe I've caught your name." He tried to start a conversation.

She half smiled at him, " Alicia, thank you."

" Hm, that's an interesting name. Where are you from?" Bilbo inquired.

She sighed, " I'm from Crosby." She answered slowly.

" Crosby? I've never heard of it before. Is it near Rohan?"

Alicia tilted her head side ways, " No sir. I don't know any place called Rohan. Crosby was a small town not too far from Houston, which is a major city."

Bilbo found it much easier to talk to her without looking at her. Her voice was soft and sweet, disarming compared to her looks. He also noticed how she kept looking around, partly to soak in the view, partly as if expecting to be attacked.

He sighed to himself. He silently hoped that he hadn't bitten off more than he could chew with this girl.

They made it to his little home with no extra attention drawn. He noticed how she hesitated by the door, crouching down as she looked at the entrance.

" Please come in. You can set the groceries there on the table. I 'll show you to the washroom." Bilbo invited.

" Thank you sir." She tentatively stepped inside, carefully avoiding not to track too much dirt in. This made Biblo smile. 'Such a polite young woman.'

She did as she obeyed, following him to the washroom stepping lightly. Her demeanor made him slightly uneasy. To him, it said 'dangerous, unpredictable, maybe even slightly mad.' He didn't know whether to feel sorry for fear her like a bear.

She set her strange backpack in the hallway. He showed her where to find the clean towels and all.

" I'll have a nice warm fire and food with tea going when you come out. Also, these gowns here, belonged to my mother once, wonderful woman. They should be able to fit you."

Alicia smiled again at him as she accepted his kind offer, " Thank you Mr. Bilbo. This is all very generous of you."

" Think nothing of it my dear. I'll see you when you're finished." He walked off to get the fire started.

His generosity was like a drink of ice cold water after hours in the scorching sun.

The washroom was a very old fashion style room, reminding her of how her grandparents' childhood.

As quickly as she could, she washed off thoroughly and changed into the gown that was provided for her.

Outside the washroom, the house was filled with the warm smell of hot tea, food and all the comforting smells that Alicia thought she might not ever enjoy again.

Bilbo sat in his armchair reading some book while he sipped his tea. She lightly stepped into the living room towards him. It was obvious by his broad smile that he was much more pleased with her appearance than before. Her damp brown hair, once matted and caked with sweat and blood, now hung in bouncy curls. The mud washed away revealing clean golden brown skin. She gave the impression of a quiet, young good girl to Bilbo now.

" My, my. Much better yes? How do you feel?" He asked.

" Better, yes. Thank you." Alicia replied.

" Good, good. I've got some stew cooking in the kitchen. Care to join me and we can talk more over a nice lunch." He bustled into the kitchen with her right behind. He was bemused at how the girl looked around at everything, as if seeing a house for the first time.

" So, tell me Miss Alicia. How did you come by the Shire?" Bilbo asked after serving lunch.

Alicia didn't want to give away too much details, so she kept to minimum details. She was trying to find supplies for her colony, but was attacked, got separated, and has been running ever since, her provisions running low.

" How sad. Do you know how to get back home?"

Her shoulders dropped, " Well, probly back through the woods I came out of." She half joked.

Bilbo leaned back in his chair." Well, that's quite a predicament. Sounds like some war going on with the humans."

This made Alicia pause. She looked at Bilbo more closely, noticing also his pointed ears. " Humans? Not to sound rude Mr. Bilbo, but may I ask what are you?"

He chuckled, " That's not rude at all my dear. I am a hobbit. We usually don't get much taller than me, maybe wider. We're quiet folk who keep our noses to ourselves. Stay away from trouble and no trouble will find you."

" So you don't really have any problems out here?" She asked looking out the window.

" Well, we have little thieves and hooligans."

It was her turn to look perplexed again. " You live a very blessed life Mr. Bilbo. I hope that's all you'll ever have to worry about." She finished the rest of her stew in record time. Bilbo couldn't understand why anyone would eat so fast and not enjoy their meal, then again, she must have had to eat fast sometimes.

After lunch, she insisted on helping him with any chores that needed to be done. She did everything without complaint, as quick and efficient as she could once she got the hang of it. She was very easy to talk to and Bilbo enjoyed her company as he talked more about hobbits lifestyle and the world of Middle Earth. He notice that she never said too much about herself unless asked, rather mysterious young lady.

Dinner was prepared by the hobbit while Alicia prepared the table.

Again, she scarfed down her food in a matter of minutes, then broke the silence. " Mr. Bilbo, thank you so much for all your hospitality. I don't want to impose anymore. I'll be going after some more tea."

The hobbit stared at her as if she had just sprouted two more heads. " What? W- Where will you be going?"

" Back the way I came I suppose, it's the only way I really know."

" Isn't it dangerous that way?"

She sighed. " I don't have any money at all. All I've got is what's on me and my camping goods."

" In that case my dear you will stay here tonight. I won't hear anything more of it." Bilbo insisted.

The young lady looked at him, as if to protest, but Bilbo raised his hand. " Finish your tea and eat your fill. I'll show you to your room when you're ready."

Alicia did not protest again. " Yes sir." She whispered. She washed her clothes and laid them out to hang dry on racks and such in her room, which was Bilbo's mother's room.

" Goodnight Mr. Bilbo and thank you again." Alicia greeted before going to bed. Sleep took her quick, for she hadn't been sleeping well since being separated from her group.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again. I hope my story has captured your attention, (obviously it has if you're reading this). Anyway, thanks again for reading and please tell me what you think (^_^)**

**Chapter2- A new reality**

Alicia woke up surprisingly late after ten in the morning. Bilbo let out a happy chuckle when she came into the kitchen with a silly bed head and half asleep eyes.

" Well good morning my dear. I trust you slept well?" He smiled.

She grinned a devious smile back, which Bilbo had come to realize that's her natural smile, " I did, thank you. Did you?"

" Yes I did thank you. Here I saved some breakfast for you. I'll be outside if you need anything." He said as he prepared his pipe.

Breakfast was Alicia's favorite meal of the day, and she ate heartily from just about everything he had out. She had biscuits with jam, lots of bacon and sausages, and some eggs with a two servings of milk.

She did feel slightly guilty about being able to eat so well without the rest of her colony, she prayed that they all at least made it back home safely and still living.

Voices from outside the front door snapped her out of her reverie. It sounded like Bilbo was talking with some other neighbor perhaps. She peeked out the window and saw a tall older man in grey with a long staff standing outside his gate. Bilbo sat on his bench looking at him awkwardly.

" All of them at once I suppose." Bilbo said. " Is there something I can help you with?"

The old man looked at Bilbo and smirked, " I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure."

Bilbo bristled and jumped up, skittering back up to his house. "I-I'm sorry there'll be no adventuring here, you can try the Tooks down the road. Good day." He slipped inside as fast as he could and locked the door.

" Who's that?" Alicia whispered by the window. Bilbo looked frightened and bustled by the window next to her to look out.

Suddenly both the girl and the hobbit jumped back when the blue eyes of the old man appeared looking right them. Bilbo looked back out just in time to see him walk away down the road.

" Oh my. Wizards are such a strange lot." Bilbo said, trying to calm down.

" Wizards? That guy was a wizard? What did he want?" Alicia inquired.

" Just an old man babbling on about crazy adventures. We hobbits don't go on adventures. I've not the slightest clue as to why he would come asking me?!"

Alicia was still slightly confused. The only time she had ever heard of wizards was in story books and movies, or the renaissance festival even. She wondered if the people here lived like the renaissance times to help deal with tragedies that she was going through.

She helped Bilbo to his armchair and helped clean up the kitchen while he got over his shock.

She helped keep his mind off of it during the daily chores and kept him talking about his books, mishaps with other nosy hobbits and so on. Lunch was enjoyed outside with a nice cool breeze, vegetables were harvested, and all the extra food Bilbo had was neatly organized in his pantry. To Alicia, the pantry was big enough to be another small apartment kitchen. She couldn't imagine having this much food in her house just for herself. Despite everything, Alicia found it hard not to like the little hobbit. She made it a pointy to clean up after herself, put things back and everything else her mother tried to beat into her.

" My dear you're so very sweet and helpful. I can't imagine why anyone would wish harm on someone like yourself." Bilbo blurted before realizing what he said. There was only a thin smile and distant eyes on her face indicating that she had heard what he said.

" I'm sorry Miss Alicia. I didn't mean to ruin your happiness. I won't mention it again if you'd like." Bilbo said.

" It's alright. But it is complicated, Maybe later I will tell you more if you really want to hear." She smiled at him fully, " But make sure it's not during a happy time, or I'll end up killing the happy." She chortled.

Bilbo didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for her that she could find humor in what seems to be a very dark past. He let it go none-the-less.

As dinner time was approaching, Bilbo made a delicious fish three course meal for the both of them.

" This is one of my favorite meats Mr. Bilbo!" Alicia eyed the food hungrily, " Fish and Turkey are my favorite meats."

She sat down at the table quickly after setting it and getting the drinks with the excitement of a kid getting fresh cookies. She said grace an took a bite. Just as Bilbo was about to dig in, there was a loud knock at the door.

" Who on earth could that be at this hour?" Bilbo asked. He got up to his front door listening for any clues. Alicia sat at the table waiting patiently but alert. Her hand slipped by her concealed belt buckle knife.

" Dwalin, at your service." She heard a deep growling voice. Next came the sound of heavy boots coming in, " Which way lad? He said there'd be food here. Is it this way?"

In came a bald headed man, taller than Bilbo but still shorter than Alicia. He looked at her with a scrutinizing look, until he saw Bilbo's plate of food. He merely harrumphed at her smile and sat down in Bilbo's place. Bilbo sat awkwardly to the side watching the stranger chowing down on his food. Alicia couldn't eat anymore.

" So who's this then?" The stranger nodded towards her through mouthfuls of food.

" Alicia. And you?" She answered.

" Dwain. I wasn't told about a woman being here."

Alicia looked to Bilbo who shrugged in confusion before turning back to Dwalin. " Who told you anything?"

Dwalin raised an eyebrow at her" Eh? What do you mean?"

" What were you told and who told you?"

Just then there was another knock at the door.

" That'd be the door." Dwalin growled when no one was moving. Bilbo went to see who came. Dwalin spotted the jar of cookies behind Alicia and got up to get it. Alicia watched him try to get them. His hand was too big, so he tried shaking them out.

" Balin at your service." Another foreign voice echoed down the hall. " Is it over? Am I late?"

In came a white haired old man in scarlet. He reminded Alicia of a shorter Irish Santa Claus, right down to his kindly eyes and wide smile, which split even more when he spotted Dwalin, still trying to get the cookies.

" By my beard! You've gotten shorter and wider since the last time I saw you!" Dwalin bellowed.

Balin held up a finger, " Wider not shorter, but still smart enough for the both of us."

The next thing they did was head-butt each other. Bilbo looked confused, Alicia smiled and decided to scarf her fish down. The two strange men made their way to Bilbo's pantry, shuffling and rummaging through his food storages. Bilbo was trying to talk to them, whom they didn't actually hear till he said 'I'm sorry' a little louder.

" Apology accepted." Balin stated after the awkward silence. Another knock at the door. Bilbo hurried out to answer it.

Alicia's plate was empty now, and she sat quietly, amused at the eventful night it's been so far.

Balin picked up some jar and smelled it, glancing her direction, then doing a double-take when he finally noticed her.

" Oh beg your pardon milady! I didn't even see you there."

Dwalin shrugged, " Oh, not sure why she's here." He went right back to piling food on his plate.

Alicia smiled, " How are you?" She asked in her nicest voice.

Balin walk to her and bowed. " Balin at your service milday. And I am well thank you. You are?"

" Alicia, nice to meet you." Alicia stood up, towering over the old man. (She was five foot eight after all), and held out her hand.

Balin politely shook hands with her, " You're quite tall for a young woman I daresay."

Alicia nodded and sat back down.

Balin tilted his head as he looked at her, " Where are you from my dear? I don't believe I've ever seen anyone like yourself."

" A small town called Crosby." She answered not expecting him to know.

The old man furrowed his white brows, " Never heard of it. Sounds like you came a long way."

Two more people entered the dinning room, one guided by Dwalin. " We'll never get everyone in here." He grunted as they began to move the table.

Balin excused himself to help his other friends.

Bilbo tried his best to maintain order, yet still getting ignored by the newcomers as they rearranged his dinning room. Alicia moved out of the way, not sure if she should get involved or not.

Yet more knocks and bangs at the door. Bilbo had had enough and hollered down the hall as he went to open the door. Alicia peeked around the corner just in time to see the hobbit open the door for an avalanche of people to fall down. The old man with the staff leaned down to look inside.

" Bilbo, it's quite unlike you to keep people waiting at the front door then open it like a pop gun." The tall man in grey chastised.

The people on the ground picked themselves up roughly and headed towards the kitchen with the others.

Alicia watched, peeking around the corners of the hallway at the unusual company that all seemed to fit themselves into Bilbo's little home. She ducked back in the hallway before being seen.

Down to her right she saw a long shadow come creeping closer. It belonged to the tall old man who rounded the corner and was now looking at her with inquisitive eyes.

" You must be the young lady from this morning."

She drew herself to her full height, " You must be the wizard."

He smiled, " Gandalf the grey, at your service. What's your name child?"

" Alicia. Why did you come peeking through the window like that?" She asked with a hint of amusement.

Gandalf laughed, " Oh I thought he might be watching to see if I've gone. Thought I might give him a little scare, just for fun's sake."

" It was a success. We both jumped when we say big blue eyes staring at us."

Bilbo was in the kitchen gawking at the company as they pulled things from the shelves, rearranged the furniture and got their plates and cups filled to the brim.

" If I may ask my dear. Where are you from? What brings you here?" The old wizard escorted Alicia out from her hiding place and into the living room.

" I'm from a small town far away. I came here by accident. I was lost and Bilbo found me. We became good friends since then." The girl answered in a very formal manner, but friendly.

Gandalf didn't seem satisfied with that answer. He looked past her to the others when he saw drinks being refilled and a loud cheer.

"That's not a napkin it's a dole'!" Bilbo yelled as he snatched the cloth away from a man with an interesting hairstyle that Alicia admired.

" But it's full o' holes." Said another with a funky 'eskimo' hat smoking on his pipe.

" Of course it is. It's supposed to be that way it's crochet." Bilbo responded.

" Oh and a wonderful game that is, if you have the balls for it." The eskimo agreed.

Alicia chuckled at him quietly to herself at that answer. He clearly had no idea what he just said.

Bilbo harrumphed and came stomping towards them. " Gandalf I don't know what's going on here, why are all these dwarves in my house?!"

'Dwarves'? Alicia wasn't going to voice it, but since Bilbo said it first…

" Oh they're quite a merry lot." Gandalf smiled back to Alicia. " Why don't you get plate before it's all gone and meet the others."

Alicia shyly waved the offer away politely. She was going to just sit aside until another older dwarf with intricate braids approached them holding a serving trey. " Here you are Gandalf. Small glass of red wine as requested." He looked at Alicia with a look of shock. " Oh my dear lady, forgive me! I didn't see you earlier. Dori, at your service." He made a flourishing bow to her.

Alicia smiled back and offered a magnificent bow of her own to him." Pleasure to meet you Mr. Dori. I'm Alicia."

" What would the lady like to drink tonight? Red wine? Ale? Or chamomile tea perhaps?" Dori almost sang his questions to her. She just liked the way he talked.

" Some tea would be nice please."

Dori grinned ear to ear and reached for her hand. " Please come and join us miss Alishe…Alieeshia…oh my…" Dori grumbled at not being able to pronounce her name. He escorts her to a seat between a long black haired dwarf and the eskimo-hat dwarf. The noise was almost too much, she never liked loud noises, especially when they attracted unwanted chompers. Dori gave her a cup of tea, " There we are. If you need anything else please don't hesitate to ask me."

" Preciatcha' sir." Alicia thanked before he left again. She sipped her tea, ate whatever flying food she could catch, and stuffed her face.

The black haired dwarf beside her eyed her curiously. " I wasn't told that we would be enjoying the company of a lovely lady such as yourself." He smiled. " I am Kili, at your service."

The girl whirled towards him with big eyes and cheeks stuffed like a squirrel. Kili laughed out loud at her expression. " I'll wait till you've swallowed that. Then you can tell me your name."

" Alicia. Good to meetchu'." She said.

" An interesting name, lovely and strong at the same time." He responded.

" I like your name too."

The other dwarf next to her leaned too far to the side and bumped into her. " Oh excuse me miss, didn't even notice ya there! Hope we dwarves aren't too rowdy for a lady such as yourself! Proper ladies aren't accustomed to so much excitement at the table I'm sure." He teased. The woman raised her eyebrows at him. The poor drunkie had no idea. She watched him slurp down another gulp. Before she even had the chance to smirk, something splattered in on her left face.

'Apple pie! I love apple pie!'

" Uh-oh here I can get that for you." Kili said. He stopped suddenly and gawked at the girl wiping what remained of the pie from her face to her mouth. She took his napkin from his hand too clean up any left pieces. He grinned happily at her.

Bofur was distracted again by the brunette dwarf with the awesome hairstyle They played some game banging the utensils together. Then there was a burping contest. Alicia just listened to everyone let out their best belch. A dwarf at the farthest corner let out the loudest. Everyone gave him a pat on the back.

Alicia didn't mean to participate in the burping contest, but the food she ate was taking it's toll, and she let out a long and loud burp that had every set of eyes looking at her. To hide the embarrassment, she kept her face calm, picked up her cup casually. Bofur held his mug staring at her, so she clinked cups with him before taking a long drink and leaning back wordlessly.

" Outdone by a lass." A red haired dwarf grunted, but his scowl broke into a smile, " That's how you do it lads!" He waved his mug in the air.

Everyone went back to their merry-making as Bilbo came back around the corner chastising another dwarf. He spotted the two playing with his utensils, " Stop that! You'll blunt them!"

" Oh! You hear that lads? We'll blunt them!" Bofur teased again. " Chip the glasses crack the plates!"'

He began to sing, and then the others joined in. Soon dishes were being tossed all around, One dwarf with an interesting head piece (an axe head) began to wash the dishes that were thrown at him. He caught them without even looking out for them. This impressed Alicia. Another gray haired dwarf with an ear horn began to try to play a teapot with Bofur playing a flute. Alicia tried to just keep from being hit by anything harder than a piece of pie. Balin tossed dishes behind him with a facial expression that to Alicia said, ' I'm too old for this, I just wanna eat.'

Miraculously, not one dish or utensil was broken. It was all neatly and cleanly stacked on a table. All the dwarves laughed merrily at Bilbo's expression when he saw what they had done.

Alicia smiled at their contagious happiness.

Next came one more loud knock on the door, one that killed and silenced every voice and noise in the entire house.

" He's here." Gandalf said as everyone gathered around the door.

Bilbo opened the door to yet another dwarf. This one was taller than most, black hair streaked with grey. He walked with an air of authority, scrutinizing every person he passed by.

Gandalf stood by the door with Bilbo welcoming the newcomer, " Welcome Thorin Oakenshield."

" I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice." He grumbled.

Gandalf motioned towards the little hobbit." This is Bilbo Baggins."

Thorin looked at Bilbo with a hard stare, stalking around him as he asked questions that Bilbo stuttered over.

" He doesn't look like a burglar at all. More like a grocer." Thorin scoffed. A dry laugh echoed from the rest of the dwarves.

" Let us get down to business now." Gandalf ushered everyone back to the table. As Alicia listened, she heard them talk about not getting help from other colonies, or kingdoms more like. They talked about how few in number they were. Another dwarf with blonde hair slammed his fist on the table, " We may be few in number, but we are mighty!" He yelled. Alicia rolled her eyes at his ignorant optimism. She heard the full story of a big dragon taking over their home and that they plan on getting it back. These people, Alicia thought, are lost in their own medieval fantasy. Or perhaps, that's just what they chose to call the undead infestation at their old homes? Even then, their small numbers won't do much good to clear out an entire city of zombies. They're better off blowing the whole place up, killing what's left and rebuilding.

" I can't just leave." Bilbo argued. " I'm no adventurer, and I have a guest staying with me and I simply cannot leave her alone." Alicia was touched by the hobbits words.

" 'Her'? Are you married?" Thorin muttered annoyed already by him.

" What? No no. She's a friend of mine." Bilbo retorts.

Gandalf waved his finger. " Oh yes. I've have almost forgotten. Alicia my dear. Please come join us." The old wizard called. With a quiet sigh of apprehension, Alicia quietly stepped out in the open. She was slightly scared that these old folks would see her as an incapable child. A lot of the elders in her colony thought of her that way, despite how much she tries to act like an older adult than twenty three.

' You're still young, you have plenty of time to learn.' They would say and laugh.

Thorin turned in his seat, a hint of surprise that was quickly banished. He locked stares with her. She offered a small smile and a nod.

" Why is there a woman here? Does she intend to join us?" He scowled.

Gandalf stroked his beard, " I think the girl is more capable than she leads us on to believe."

" What skills could a woman offer us? This is a dangerous quest. A battlefield is no place for a woman."

Inadvertently, Alicia snorted at that remark. Quiet still as it was, it did not go unnoticed. Thorin's eyes squinted suspiciously at her. " Am I wrong? Tell me then, what skills do you have?

Bilbo chimed in when she didn't answer immediately, " She's a wonderful helper. Does everything with not a single complaint."

Thorin was not impressed yet, and he cast a pointed look at Gandalf before turning back around. "Balin, give him the contract."

Balin stood up, summarizing the contents of the contract. From Balin, to Thorin, it was thrust into Biblo's hands unceremoniously. Bilbo opened the incredibly long list, Alicia watched curiously at the two pieces that were attached to the side. What an odd way to write a contract. The hobbit mumbled out loud as he read the contents. " Lacerations…..Incineration?"

" Oh aye." Bofur confirmed. " He'll melt the flesh right off your bones."

Lovely.

" Are you alright lad?" Balin asked, watching Bilbo's nervous gestures.

" Think furnace, with wings." Bofur continued. Although it was clearly giving the wrong results.

Bilbo stiffened, "Nope." Then fell to the ground unconscious. Alicia knelt down, "Gone and scared the ghost out of him." She muttered as she picked the hobbit up gently to place him in his armchair. She was conscious of others still watching her, it made her slightly embarrassed. While the dwarves talked amongst themselves, Alicia stayed with Bilbo. Gandalf joined them when Bilbo started to wake up again. He was greeted by Alicia's warm smile.

" Alicia would you mind fetching Bilbo some water or tea while I talk to him?" Gandalf sat his staff against the wall. The woman patted Bilbo's hand and did as was asked. She found a quiet spot of the house where she sat quietly listening to all the activity in the house. She saw two dwarves approach her with big smiles.

" Good evening my lady." Said Kili. " This is my brother, Fili."

" At your service." Fili greeted.

" Nice to meet you Fili. How are you?" She asked.

" I am well thank you. You seem to have a talent in disappearing before anyone notices." The blonde haired dwarf half joked. Alicia shrugged her shoulders. " It's a good thing sometimes." Her vague answer had eye brows creeping up.

" Well I think it would be a good thing for us all to have a lady with us." Kili spoke.

" I agree." Fili said, " You can stick with us as we travel. My pony can carry us while kili's pony can carry the extra luggage."

Alicia greened at him, but Kili frowned. " Or how about you carry the heavy luggage, since your pony is bigger than mine and all, and Miss Alicia can ride with me."

Alicia chuckled again, " You know don't have to keep saying Miss all the time. Just saying Alicia is good with me."

" Where are you from Alicia? I've never heard any humans, or anybody actually speak like you do." Fili questioned as he made himself comfortable next to her on the ground. Kili sat in front of her.

" Far away. I've been traveling for days and lost my way. Bilbo found me and welcomed me here. What about you two?"

Kili scratched his head, " We, well our real home is Erebor. We have also been traveling town to town searching for work and a decent place to call home."

" Aye, then our uncle Thorin decided to start the quest to reclaim our home, and so we joined."

The survivor nodded approvingly, " Everyone has the right to fight for their home, no matter how long it takes. As long as it's worth fighting for."

" I'm glad you think that." Kili concluded.

From the living room, low voices began to synchronize into a song. The brothers jumped up when they realized it. Fili grabbed Alicia's hand to help her up, " Alicia, this song is important. You must listen to it."

Curious, Alicia allowed Fili to take her closer to the room where the dwarves had gathered and begun to sing, "…Through dungeons deep, and caverns old…"

She stood, looking between the dwarves, the wizard, the hobbit, watching at how the mood changed to more dramatic, almost depressing. Yet the singing was good, so she listened and waited.

After the singing, the company was still in a quiet, staring at nothing state. Like drones, they began to find places around the house to sleep. Bilbo, still flustered and irritated at it all, left them there and went to his room. The survivor noticed that he didn't get a cup of tea like he always does before bed, and so went to make one for him. As she did this, she watched the brunette "trident" haired dwarf from before, he seemed to carry a small bag that jingled when it moved. Until he settled down and drifted to sleep, she watched him subtly and suspiciously.

Knocking on Bilbo's door quietly she could practically hear the angry scowl on his face, " No no. I don't have anymore smoke weed or food-oh! Alicia I'm sorry." The little hobbit straightened himself. " What can I do for you?" He asked much to formerly.

Alicia smiled at him and held out the serving tray of tea. " Just in case, I thought I'd bring you some tea for the night friend."

In return, she was rewarded with his own grateful smile as he accepted the trey. " Thank you my dear. You're so sweet.(sigh) I'll have to deal with these wayward dwarves in the morning, hopefully they will be gone by then." He whispered. Again, she just smiled to him and bade him goodnight.

Once the house was quiet, Alicia gave one last sweep around the house, watching everyone sleeping and snoring soundly in random places of the house. Even Gandalf settled down on a sofa and rested his eyes. She blew out candles that were no longer needed, then found the "trident" haired dwarf again. By now she realized, she didn't know half these peoples' names! Still, that bag gave her pause. Quietly as she could, she crept up to the sleeping form, calculated a way to get the bag and began to execute her plan. Alicia was no stranger to roguish activity. He shifted a few times, before she successfully pulled it away…

The shifty dwarf had all of Bilbo's silver utensils in his bag! Alicia shook her head and quietly took the bag to her room, emptied it's contents on the desk, and returned the bag, this time stuffed with provisions. Just as she fell on the bed, there was quiet knocking. The girl glared at the door as she opened it, ready to fend off the thief if he should try anything. But it wasn't the thief, it was Kili.

" Lady Alicia. I just wanted to know what you thought of our song." He whispered.

Oh yeah. She had honestly forgot all about that musical drama. " It was nice. You're very good singers."

Kili frowned, " Did you listen or just hear voices?"

" No I heard the words. It's exactly what you're wanting to do, get back your home." She said, not wanting to offend the young dwarf.

" Aye. Technically, my uncle did not give a definite answer of whether you can come or not. He seems to trust Gandalf though." Kili smiled.

" I don't know what Gandalf sses in me, we've never met before." Alicia mused.

" No, but he's a wizard. You never can tell what wizards think easily. My brother and I would like you to come. I believe you can be a good asset to our company too. Please consider joining us."

Alicia glanced across the hall where Bilbo slept, then back at Kili. " I will…. Think about it Kili."

By the look on his face, this was obviously not the answer Kili wanted to hear, still he nodded, bowed and bade her a goodnight.

Alicia was torn between staying and trying to make it back to her colony, or going with Thorin's company. She wanted to try to make it back, with fresh provisions for them. Yet she was also wanting to go on this RPG video game quest these people were so intent on. She cursed herself for being such an indecisive and naïve person. She played with both options so many times. If she didn't come back it's not as if her colony would starve immediately, they had been able to establish a good living area by the water. A group of abandoned lake houses was adopted by her colony. They blocked the main roadway, built walls too high for zombies to climb, and had plenty of gardens growing in each person's living space. They got their meat from fish mostly, dairy and poultry from farms in the nearby towns that were abandoned and lots of basic medical supplies. She would be missed, but it wouldn't mean the end of their lives' as well. But what if she died or got too injured on Thorin's mission? She would be dependent on people she doesn't know, in a place she's never been with no way of knowing or contacting her friends at the colony. Sleep was going to be troublesome tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again. So sorry for taking so long on uploading the next chapter, life got in the way. Thank you again for reading and reviewing my story and I hope you like this next chapter. i look forward to reading your reviews! (^_^)**

Alicia did not intend to wake up so early, but being the light sleeper that she was, (which is both a blessing and a curse) she awoke to the sound of footsteps. Footsteps of all things! She tried to roll over and ignore it. Maybe it was someone having to go to the bathroom, or maybe it was that sneaky dwarf stealing again. At this last thought, she couldn't go back to sleep anymore. With a sad sigh, she got up and dressed into simple clothes like leggings and a long forest green colored tunic. Down the hall, she saw shadows move in the kitchen. Greeeaaat…

She stepped into the kitchen only to not find what she was expecting. It was the two eldest dwarves, Balin and Dori. Balin looked wide awake, sipping a cup of coffee, while Dori looked groggy, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. Balin poured him a cup of coffee. They reminded her of her colony. Old Donnie and his brother Buddy, a lot of people grew accustomed to calling him Uncle Buddy. Uncle Buddy was a big guy who looked scary, but was everybody's friend and always joked and sang songs, while Donnie was a quieter man, more humble and serious. They're 'old people talk' every morning had people smiling or sighing when they woke up.

They both looked at her with warm smiles on their faces.

" Good morning lassie." Balin greeted. He held up the coffee pot to her after pouring a cup for Dori.

She could tell the reason behind his chuckles was her bed head hair. She politely refused sitting down at the table and grabbing some rolls to eat.

" Good morning to you both. Did ya'll sleep well?"

" 'Ya'll'?" Dori repeated. " What is Ya'll?"

Alicia snickered at his attempt to say southern slang with such and 'english' sounding accent. " It's short for you all."

" Hmm. I did sleep rather well thank you for asking." Dori answered before a yawn. " Still trying to wake up from it."

" Aye I can say the same. " Balin said. " You might want to eat take what you want to eat now before everyone else wakes up. As you recall from last night, dwarves are not known for their manners around food and drink." He cast her a knowing smile.

Alicia smiled back, but the old dwarf, despite his age was very observative, and didn't miss her distant eyes." What's the matter lassie? You look troubled."

"… I don't think I'll be able to come." She said slowly, not making eye contact with anyone.

The dwarves looked at each other, than back at her.

Dori replied, " Well, it's a dangerous quest to begin with. Probably for the best."

Alicia's eyes flashed to him, though she didn't mean to, her look made Dori stiffen.

" I merely meant that we all must do what's best for ourselves is all."

Smiling apologetically, " Oh yes sir I understand. I, really enjoyed your company and it makes me sad to say goodbye."

Once again, Balin broke into another smile, " My dear lassie, I have enjoyed your as well. I think I speak for the rest of the company when I say we all have."

" Can you tell the others how much I enjoyed them too please?" Alicia said as she got up to leave.

" Of course milady." Balin said as they watched her go. Dori blinked, " She didn't even have breakfast with us."

Alicia changed into her normal clothes, repacking and double checking her bag, which was a military issue, - bag. She wrote down a thank you letter to Bilbo, also explaining the pile of silverware on the dresser, and snuck out of the window. She was sad again, but decided that she should at least try to get back home. The sun was rising steadily, painting the sky with beautiful colors that made her wish she could just fly. The town had not fully awaken yet either, making it easier for her to slip by unnoticed and back up the path where she remembered Bilbo finding her. Along her path, she ran into quite a few fields of vegetables, to tempting to pass by. She stole various produce from spots that would be the most unnoticable, and stuffed them in her bag as she went. Finally she came to the spot where they first met. The woods looked different on this side, more peaceful, less ominous. With a final sigh, she marched through the woods. Dried blood spots, broken branches and other signs that she might have left were still there. Alicia would be foolish if she didn't admit to herself that she was a little scared being in the woods with little light until the hour passed. She listened carefully at all the sounds as she trekked on, small game running, bugs buzzing. As the hour did pass, she came to a small opening where the sun lit up the green ground. She remembered this opening, if she recalled, she came from the left. Off she went again, as time passed, she began to doubt if she was even going the right way. She searched for more signs, finding a few, she followed them. According to the light, she estimated that she must have been gone for two hours by now. She found another opening, but it didn't lead to the open field she remembered before entering the woods. Instead, it led to more hobbit holes. There were two children swinging happily on a porch swing. She huffed and turned around.

Eventually, she came to another opening. This wasn't the field she was looking for either. Her spirit dropped at the fact that she would probably never find her way back easily, or even today for that matter. She walked along a road for a while, facing the realization. She felt vulnerable, like a little girl in a woman's body stuck helplessly and hopelessly in a place far from home, ( or what she could call home. Crosby was overrun by zombies and she fled from one town to another as she searched for family and friends. Not all made it to the lake houses.)

Out of the corner of her eyes, she heard familiar voices. Following the sound, she found that the voices were those of the dwarves from last night. They rode ponies, chattering to each other. Gandalf was up front with that Thorin guy. Bilbo was even there! He decided to go after all. That settled it.

Down the hill she raced. She zig zagged to avoid bushes and trees, slowed down to catch her breath.

She saw Thorin call a halt and looked her direction, obviously hearing her heavy tromping.

A couple of moments later, she emerged in front of them, smiling.

" Alicia? What on earth are you doing? Bilbo said you left to go back home." The old wizard stated looking at her in confusion.

" I changed my mind. I would like to come with you too, if that's still and option." She requested. The dwarves looked at her, more particularly, her clothes. She was wearing pants that had blotches of forest colors on it, a long brown coat that had many extra pockets sewn onto it and a loose black shirt underneath. Black open-fingered gloves strapped to her hands and strange straps on her legs and belt that held various tools and knives to her body, complete with a foreign sword strapped to her back and a brown hat tied to her bag. Her attire had the whole company except Bilbo looking at her like they had never seen her before and she almost laughed out loud. Instead, she merely chortled to herself.

Thorin looked to Gandalf and back at her. " You will have to fend for yourself. You may join my company for now. I will decide by your actions if you will be of any use to us or an unnecessary weight to be carrying." Alicia hid her grimace and nodded. " Thank you sir."

" Let's keep going." Thorin called out, and the company continued on their journey. Alicia stepped aside to avoid getting run over.

Bofur rode passed her, " Good to see ya back lass! Happier still that you chose to join us!" He waved.

Alicia chuckled again and started walking beside Bilbo.

" I though you went back home." He said between sniffles.

" I couldn't find my way back. I tried, but every path I took brought me back here, somehow."

" Well, I'm glad you're back." Bilbo said. Then he leaned closer to her, " These dwarves are already starting to drive me mad."

Kili and Fili rode up next to them, " Alicia! I thought you didn't like us!" said Fili.

" See? I told you she'd come with us!" Kili said triumphantly. " Come ride with me milady. We can't have you walking the whole way there."

" Fine. If it makes my brother feel more manly go ahead and humor him I suppose." Fili said nonchalantly. This earned a glare from Kili before he stopped and offered Alicia his hand. She swung herself up easily enough, it was getting a comfortable seat that was hard. She felt silly being on a small horse that had to carry two people. The pony didn't seem to have trouble though.

" May I ask you something Alicia?" Kili said in front of Alicia.

" Shoot."

" Your change of clothes. They're unlike anything I've ever seen before, and I 've seen some humans wear some strange attire. Yours isn't flamboyant, it's practical but still strange."

Alicia smiled, " I could say the same for you if it's not insulting."

Kili laughed, " I suppose you can if you're not from around here. Do all women prefer to dress like men where you come from?"

" Where I'm from, a girl wearing pants is actually not considered dressing like a man unless they are pants designed for a man. Are women only allowed to wear dresses here?"

" No, but it is uncommon."

"Oh. What about the other way around?" Alicia asked with a hint of humor.

" What do you mean? As in a man wearing a dress?" Kili laughed at the thought. " That is even more uncommon. Does that happen where you're from?" He joked.

" Only when the man is purposefully trying to make people laugh, like at festivals or big parties where it's his job to make the crowd fall over laughing. And same with the women, they'd dress and act like a man for comedic purposes."

Kili kept laughing at the mere thought of it all. " Have you ever done any of those things?"

"What me?! I'm too pretty to be manly." Alicia said in her best man voice she could muster. The young dwarf nearly lost control of the pony from his giggling.

Fili came back to their sides, curious about their laughter. "And what do we find so amusing here?"

" Why hello Fili!" Alicia said still doing her man impersonation. " I say, wonderful day it is isn't it? Blegh blah, blagh."

Fili gaped at her. " Are you busy this afternoon Mister Fili? I would loooove to have you for lunch." The girl continued in her funny man voice. Kili almost couldn't breathe, which made Alicia stop for a moment.

" Is there something I need to know? Fili snapped out of his stupor, joking back at Alicia, " Because I could've sworn there was a beautiful lady Kili was riding with. Dear brother I'm surprised at you."

All three of them fell into a laughing fit. Thorin looked back at them clearly in no mood for jokes according to the scowl on his face. Alicia caught Gloin casting a bemused look on his face as well before resuming his conversation with Dwalin.

Alicia noticed Bilbo holding some piece of a rag like it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever touched before tying it to one of his bags.

" What's that? Just a rag?" She inquired.

" It's a strip of Master Bofur's coat. I forgotten my handkerchief see, I wanted to go back, but instead, the uh, generous dwarf ripped a piece of his clothes and tossed it to me." The hobbit grumped.

To her, handkerchiefs were not a necessity, they were luxury items, only to be carried when it was safe. She remembered those times, when half the world wasn't zombies and marauders. She began to feel sorry for him, praying that the good hobbit wouldn't have to experience the things she witnessed.

She tried another tactic, " If you had to pick a fruit or vegetable that best describes your personality, what would it be?"

The hobbit looked at her amused by this random question, " A fruit or vegetable? I don't think I can recall ever being asked such a strange question before." He thought about it for a moment. " Perhaps I would be-"

" A tomato." Kili answered. " Because he's so soft and tender and can hold a lot more than people think. Such as his pantry."

" Hpmh. I do believe you master Kili would be a leek. You constantly need a good wash before one can do anything with you, there's a lot of trial and error before finding a dish both can agree on." Bilbo retorted. Alicia snickered.

For the rest of the way, Alicia watched the other dwarves. She studied how they reacted towards one another, how they carried themselves, or subjects they enjoyed talking about. She wasn't that good at reading people actually, but she tried to learn what she could anyway.

After more long and boring hours, Thorin finally called a halt. " We shall camp her tonight. Gloin start a fire. Bombur get dinner ready. Fili, Kili, see if you can capture some fresh game. Dori, Nori, tie up the ponies." He marched the camp, inspecting the area. He came to a stop in front of the girl who rested her bag and stretched out her back.

"Well Lady Alicia. What can you offer for our camp?" He asked. The girl looked at him plainly, not a hint of fear or nervousness in her eyes. In fact her entire face was a mask of mystery to the mountain king. He watched her look around the camp, resting her eyes on the red bearded dwarf.

" I can start by getting some firewood for the night, help the cook with the dinner if he needs it. If not, I can help brush down the horses…" She turned back to Thorin who waited for her to continue, " Do you have tents that need to be set up, or perimeters to be marked?"

" We do not have tents and as for perimeters, we would take turns keeping watch for the night, that person on watch keeps an eye on the entire camp." He tilted his head in thought. " How often are you away from home like this?"

The girl smirked to herself, " However often I need to be sir." Thorin raised an eyebrow at this. Once again, she answered with an answer that is both straightforward and vague. " I'll get started on gathering firewood if you like."

Thorin nodded. " Yes. You may carry on with assisting the others with their tasks once you're finished."

" Sounds good." She said and pulled out a hatchet and a little rope before stalking off into the forest.

Once out of eyes and ear shot, the survivor stopped to relieve herself. Man that was a long ride! Quietly she scanned the perimeter for any dry wood she could drag, careful not to lose track of the camp. On her first trip she brought small branches and twigs, even a few chunks of pine knot for fire starting. Gloin thanked her before she left again. Then she ventured deeper. With no flash light, it was hard to see which kind of tree was what, and she didn't want to go back to ask for one. Luckily the moon was bright enough for her to at least see where to put her feet. She stuck to feeling and smelling the different types of trees to see which is good for fire wood or not. She found a very long dead branch on the ground that would make great fire wood, even still had lots of dead leaves on it. The thing was seven inches in diameter from the thickest part. She grabbed and pulled it to her stock pile before going for more. She heard rustling in the bushes. Instinctively, she went on high alert, moving slower and quieter for dead sticks. A small snap behind had her whirling around lunging into the form behind her. There was an audible Oof! As Alicia secured the figure beneath her, one hand gripped around the throat.

" Agh! Alicia! It's just me! I can't breathe!" Fili squirmed under her. She jumped off of him quickly, making him gasp again.

" Oh Fili! I'm so sorry dude!" She helped sit him up as he coughed.

He smiled at her, indicating that he wasn't mad. " Remind me never to sneak up on you again."

She helped him to his feet, " What were you doing anyway?"

" I was going to ask you the same thing. I am hunting." He held up two raccoons. " What are you doing so far from camp?"

" I am gathering fire wood." She gestured to her pile.

" A lady should not be doing such tasks."

Alicia shot him a look, " Don'tchu' start that again. It's not like it's hard. I'm Alicia, I can handle firewood." She spoke in her mock man voice again. Fili just grinned and shook his head.

The dwarf waited for Alicia to finish tying the branches together. " Here, let me carry that." He grabbed the bundle before she could hoist it on her back. Wordlessly, she let him take it. As Fili led the way back to camp, a dragging sound made him turn back to her and gape again. She was pulling a larger load than him! She smiled a very devious grin at him as she pulled the large load into camp. Kili was already back with a whole deer, and he grinned mischievously at his brother when he saw his face.

Gloin whistled and got up to help break the larger branches for the fire.

" I'll get some more if you'd like." She said to the red bearded dwarf, but he waved it away. " This is plenty for the night lass! Well done!"

Before leaving, she realized something. " I'm sorry sir. I never did ask for your name."

The burly dwarf nodded to her, " Aye. How rude of me. I am Gloin. At your service."

" Alicia, in case you didn't know that already. Good to meet you finally." She joked.

Gloin chortled as he fanned the fire and sat back. " Who else have you not met?"

" I've only met Fili, Kili, Thorin, Dori, Bofur Balin and Dwalin, and you."

" Ah, well there's my brother Oin. He's a little hard at hearing." Gloin pointed him thumb at a grey dwarf with an ear horn. He waved at her upon seeing her regarding him.

" That's Nori with Dori by the ponies. I'd keep an eye on my valuables around him if I were you. Tends to have sticky fingers he does."

Alicia already knew that, and smiled as she saw the two bickering about something.

" Over there is the youngest of the three, Ori." Gloin finished.

Upon hearing his name, Ori looked up from drawing something towards them. Alicia could see him blushing across the camp.

" And lastly, is Bombur here, and his cousin Bifur there."

Bombur smiled and dipped his head to her as he prepared the game the young brothers brought back.

Bifur just lazily looked at her a few long seconds, all the while Alicia tried not to stare at the interesting head gear he had stuck on his head. She offered a friendly smile at him. Bifur tilted his head, then went back to whittling.

" I think that's everyone." Gloin concluded.

" Awesome. Thank you Mr. Gloin." Alicia thanked and got a grunt in response. She got up to see if Bombur needed and help.

" I think I've got it covered tonight, thank you my lady." The rotund dwarf said as he happily went about his cooking.

Alicia excused herself and went to the ponies with Dori and Nori.

" Need any help?" She greeted them.

" Ah my dear Alicia!" Dori said. " So glad to see you have decided to join us after all. We've just about finished with the ponies." His jolly face brightened at the idea of getting to relax.

" Well hurry up then brother, or we'll miss supper." Nori teased. He winked at Alicia.

" So, Nori is it?"

" At your service."

" Nice to finally meetcha'. Did ya'll used to live in Erebor too?" She asked.

The brothers launched into their whole life story! They told of what they did after the dragon came, how sometimes they had to beg, sometimes finding jobs, but constantly migrating from one place to another. Dori was a merchant when he could be, or even worked at any Inns that would hire him. In the meantime, Nori became very good at thieving, and Ori became a very good artist. She listened intently at their stories, happy that they trusted her enough to talk about some personal experiences they had. The trio joined the rest of the party when dinner was ready. Wooden bowls were passed around, half the group ate first, then shared their bowls with the other half.

Alicia was one of the first. She ate quickly as usual and passed her bowl to Oin.

Thorin ate quietly to himself, watching his company carry on and settle down. When he was finished, he passed his to Balin. The old dwarf sat beside him finishing his last few bites.

" Well?" He broke the silence.

" Well what?" Thorin asked.

" You've been staring at everyone since we made camp. What's on your mind?" Balin pried.

The king looked at him, " Gandalf says the the hobbit would make a good burglar for us. I have yet to see that."

" Give the lad a chance, I'm sure he won't let us down."

" Not to mention that girl. She's not what one would expect from a woman of man." Thorin watched her conversing with the dwarves, well, more like listening to them gossip to one another.

Balin shrugged, " Well, remember, she's not from around these lands. I'm not sure where she's from exactly, but from what I heard from her explaining to our young princes, their customs are quite different from ours."

" That is what bothers me. She doesn't seem bothered by hard work, even tasks that are meant for men, and apparently she's camped out like this many times before. I don't trust her. She's too.." Thorin couldn't find the word for it.

" Competent? Efficient? Deserving of a chance?" Balin smiled knowingly.

Thorin scoffed at his suggestion. " I don't like it and I think she's up to something."

He looked back to see the hobbit dance from one foot to the next nervously.

"Aye orcs. Throat cutters they are." Kili said

" They'll attack you in your sleep before you know it." Fili added.

Why those insolent… Thorin jumped up, marching to them, " You think this is a game?!"

" We didn't mean anything by it." Kili said sheepishly.

" No of course you don't. You know nothing of the world!" Thorin marched away again, angry at the immaturity of his nephews, angry at the oddest members of his company and at Gandalf for not giving any more reason than a hunch that this grocer and lost girl would be of any use to them.

Balin came to join the youngsters, " Don't take it to heart. Thorin has more reason than most to hate orcs."

" So what are orcs really then?" Alicia looked up at him. He smiled a sad smile to her, but a dark shadow fell over his face. " Vile creatures they are. Perhaps the ugliest ones you've ever seen too. Evil things that live in dark corners of Middle Earth that know nothing but killing and conquering." Balin answered.

" Are they living?" She asked awkwardly. This had the old dwarf look at her incredulously.

" Well yes. Until you kill them of course."

Bilbo inched closer to the fire. " Why does Thorin have more reason than most to hate them?"

Balin told a story of how after they left Erebor, they went to reclaim their old home, but it was already taken by a pale orc, Azog the Defiler. As she listened, she began to see just how dramatic Balin can be. Alicia tried to avoid drama as much as possible. It took some effort not to show her irritation or roll her eyes.

Still, she couldn't deny the fact that she could relate to the story in some way. Only Alicia had given up trying to reclaim her home, she just moved on from place to place. The nomad life was the way she grown accustomed to, although she loved to travel before the zombie invasion.

She looked up and noticed how everyone was watching Thorin now, nearly made her want to gag.

After that weird moment, Everyone settled down to sleep.

Alicia Laid down on her bed roll, watching the stars.

" Don't worry Alicia. My brother and I will protect you as long as you're with us." Kili whispered.

Alicia snorted amusingly at him, " Well thank you, and likewise."

" You're not afraid?"

" No, but an orc isn't standing right in front of me either." She whispered back. " I'll contribute to the company one way or another."

Kili patted her hand comfortingly, " Believe me you are, you'll be fine."

Alicia squeezed his hand gratefully before he turned in for the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello Hello to you! Wonderful day to add another chapter wouldn't you say? I hope this one isn't too boring**

A strange, loud sound in the night had Alicia's eyes popping open, though this one didn't sound like the orc one. She swiftly got up, looking around for the source of the sound and at the sleeping forms of the dwarves. When she heard it again, and saw it to be one of the dwarves snoring!

How could anyone make that much noise and still be asleep?!

Gandalf's chuckle across the fire caught her attention. " Dwarves aren't known for being the quietest of sleepers either."

Alicia relaxed to sit back down. " Are you tired? I can keep watch now if you'd like." She offered, mostly to just be polite. To her relief, he turned it down. " The night is still young my dear, try to get soe rest while you can.

Huh, easier said than done. She smiled and laid back down to do so anyway.

The next time she woke, the camp had almost finished packing up. The girl stretched like a cat and sat up. Bilbo, who was just about to wake her placed a plate of meats in front of her. " Good morning Miss Alicia. Did you sleep okay?" gesturing to her messy hair.

She retied it back, " Yes I did, thank you. Did you?"

" As well as any I suppose. We better get back on those horses soon or Thorin will chastise us for slowing him down." The hobbit took back her empty plate while she repacked her bag on one of the pack horses.

Fili came striding up to her, " Good morning Alicia. I trust you slept well? Would you like to ride with me today?"

" Sure thing Fili. I'd like that" She smiled. She followed him to his pony.

" Here, you should ride in front, in case you're still weary, you can rest while we ride." The dwarf suggested. Alicia obliged, both flattered and a bit put off at her generous treatment.

The next few days traveling was pretty uneventful, some of the dwarves would sing, Bofur would play his flute, or they would tell stories to each other for fun.

One night, Bofur danced and played his flute for the party as they sang along to songs that they did know, or danced to the new songs. Alicia braided her hair in three braids while he entertained the group.

Alicia sat next to Ori, as he drew pictures of the goofy Bofur. " That's an amazing picture Ori."

Ori blushed again when he noticed her attention on him. " Oh, thank you miss. I thought it would be a good idea to document our journey." He stuttered, as if he thought he had to explain himself.

" That is a good idea. Ya know, I like to draw too, though I can't say I'm quite at your level of skill yet." She said, pulling out her sketch book to share. She visibly saw the shyness almost melt away completely from Ori's face as they shared pictures and ideas.

" Is this Bifur?" The dwarf asked.

" Hee hee. It's my attempt at drawing him. " She joked.

" But I think it's very good Miss. You're very good at detail. I think he would like it too."

" You think I could get him to sign it?"

Ori grinned, " I wouldn't see why not. He only speaks in dwarfish though, so you'd have to ask Bofur or Bombur to translate."

Alicia watched the cousins for a moment, debating on asking for an autograph or not. Finally she agreed, and borrowed Ori's pen.

She sat down next to Bifur, who didn't acknowledge her presence until she sat the sketchbook down in his view. He did a double take, staring at the page for an awkwardly long moment. " Ek zakh gnovak hav ohr?" The older dwarf grumbled. Though of course, Alicia couldn't tell if he was asking or stating something. She pointed at it and grinned happily, " Bifur."

Bombur leaned closer, asking something to Bifur. " He said you draw good."

" He does like it, for real?" She asked.

Bombur translated again. " He said yes and wants to know why you decided to draw him."

" Spark of inspiration I suppose, and because I think you look cool."

" Cool? I'm sure he isn't cold, thank you for your concern Miss." Bombur misunderstood.

" Oh no I meant, I think he looks…awesome….and, uh…" Alicia couldn't fin another word for it without sounding like a suck-up. " I don't know how else to explain it. But if he really does like it, would he mind autographing it please?" She mumbled.

Bombur understood completely luckily and translated. Bifur's bushy brows shot up and his face turned a shade redder. Then a wide smile split his face as he signed his name on the page.

" He said thank you very much, 'pretty lady'." Bombur chortled.

Alicia gave her thanks and dropped right back to Ori, showing him the signature. As the dwarf flipped through her sketchbook, Ori saw a page that had more strange questions on it.

" Excuse me miss, but what are these questions for?" He asked.

" They don't mean anything really. Not sure if you noticed how I like to ask random questions? Well I write them down too. The answers I get from people are so interesting sometimes." She smirked.

Ori read them out loud, " Is there a definite right and wrong, or do you believe in compromising for everything? If you could fly anywhere in the world except home, where would it be? If you could name a star what would it be? If you try to fail and succeed, what have you done? What kind of animal would you be?If you could open up your own business what would it be?" Ori laughed at some of them.

" I would be a song bird, or a wolf!" Bofur chimed in. " I would name my star Thar Tarziah, which is dwarven for sky dancer. And I would have a Toy making business."

The girl nodded in agreement.

She continued to ask Ori and Bofur funny questions and even Balin when he sat down, until Thorin came up, " Miss Alicia. We need more firewood, and the ponies need their hooves cleaned."

Alicia pardoned herself and began at once. She was suddenly irritated at Thorin's tone. If she didn't know any better, he purposefully interrupted their fun.

When she heard Thorin telling the company to remember what they're here for, she felt even more angry.

Heaven forbid I do give them something to think about d=besides being eaten by some dragon! A dragon which she was still skeptical about. Maybe a terrorist that called his group the dragon or something, but a real giant flying lizard? Well hell, I've got a hobbit, a wizard, and some dwarves. Oh and let's not forget orcs! No point in not keeping an open mind now.

She gathered firewood as quickly as she could, and went immediately to the ponies. She asked for the tool to get the job done. After everything was all said and done, the entire company had turned in for the night, only Dwalin was still up for his shift.

" Who watches after you?" she asked.

" Gloin. Then Bombur." He grumbled. She sat next to him, warming up by the fire.

" What do you do for a living? If you don't mind my asking." The girl whispered.

Dwalin gave her a sideways glance, " That's probably one of the few sensible questions I've heard from you. Do you always ask a lot of questions?"

" When I care to understand the subject I suppose. This earned another sidelong look from the gruff dwarf. " Just curious, sorry."

After that, they sat in silence for long moments.

" After the dragon took our home, I took many jobs from a tavern bouncer, to caravan escort. My brother did the same, but mostly worked as a merchant assistant or so. The battle at Moria left us with hopeless spirits. We resigned ourselves to finding work and a home wherever it was offered."

The survivor understood the dwarf well. During the zombie invasion, government officials and military officers patrolled the streets. They were at every check point, every entrance into cities and towns that were still safe from the zombies. Even animals were herded into safer lands. Many small town folk went to bartering methods in order to maintain somewhat of a normal life. There were marauders, marauder hunters, zombie hunters, and the typical mercenaries. Then there were the colonists. These people were anybody who got together to live a relatively normal life. Some even had electricity still going. Products that came across country was even harder to get, but with an alliance that America formed with Europe, Australia, and China in particular goods from around the world still came in every now and then. Then traveling traders would ship them to major cities or passing towns. It was a very thin agreement, but desperate people take what they can get as long as they can get it.

" Take what you can get as long as you can get it." She voiced.

"Aye. It sounds like you speak from experience." Dwalin inquired.

" Mm-hm. There was a time when we had to evacuate our homes too. My family and friends, we got together as best we could. Set off to find a new one. Took a while before we found a descent place. Everyone put their expertise to the best possible use and then helped out with everything else that we were able to. " Inadvertently, she caught Dwalin's eyes and admiration reflected in hers. When she realized it, she looked away to avoid any awkward moments.

Dwalin did not respond, or ask anything further. He kept his watchful eyes around the camp. Some time later, he looked back at her to see her cross-legged, back straight, shoulders relaxed and her eyes closed. Was the lass planning on sleeping like that? He watched her take deep, slow breaths and remembered what his brother had once said that some humans like to do, particularly monks and priests, meditation. He decided to get up and stretch his muscles. An hour later, the girl cracked open her eyes. When she saw him, she smiled and went to her bed roll beside Bilbo. In the next two hours Dwalin would wake Gloin and he would finally get some sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Good day and good night! Yeah, last chapter was kinda short. I suppose it was just one of those verbal chapters than action chapter. Still, I do appreciate any reviews, tips, and ideas. Thank you for reading again (^_^)**

The next day had everyone bundled up to keep out the cold and the rain. Poor Bilbo didn't have anything to cover his head, so Alicia gave him her hat, which he didn't look too bad in. She noticed Bofur trying to light his pipe with difficulty. " May I?" She asked him.

" I haven't lit it yet miss." Bofur apologized.

"I know, I was going to try to light it for you." She smiled as she was given the pipe. Next she pulled out a small device. A tiny flame popped up from it, lit the pipe, and it was given back to the surprised dwarf.

" Well bless me. Are you able to use magic too?"

" No sir. It's just a little tool from back home we call a lighter. I made this one myself actually." The girl looked at it one more time, then held it out to Bofur. " Here."

Bofur took it all to happily, like a child given candy. He turned it over in his hands, trying to figure it out.

" Bless me, you're an inventor. We have our own inventor lads!" Bofur sang.

" I wouldn't say that. More like an improviser." She corrected.

It wasn't like the typical plastic lighters found in gas stations. It was bigger. It was a glass jam jar with two lids attached to it.

" This must be where the oil goes in yes?" Bofur guessed.

" Correct. Just a little at a time though."

The dwarf couldn't figure out how to spark it till Alicia showed him. After a few tries, he finally got it and let out a triumphant laugh. " What a wonderful invention lass! Beautiful and smart!"

" I don't know about all that. I didn't invent the idea, I just made my own is all." She said more seriously.

Kili watched the whole thing, " And humble too. Though that's not quite as fun."

" Oh I beg to differ. When someone tells you you're incapable of doing something, and you pass them up doing it, the look on their face is priceless. Hence why I prefer to let my actions speak do most of the talking."

" Really? That explains a lot." Fili said from behind them.

When Bofur tried to hand her the lighter back, Alicia refused. " You keep it."

" I couldn't do that lass, I have some matches anyway." Bofur said, but Alicia still refused.

" Matches are essential to have too, but keep that one and I'll use my spare. And I'll make more if I need to."

Bofur looked at her like she just grew wings and a halo, " Th-thank you miss Alicia. I'll treasure it always." His face fell to one of guilt. " I think I also owe you an apology."

" Why? 'Cuase you couldn't light a pipe?" She jested. Fili snorted amusingly.

" Heh, no miss. For something much earlier. When we first met at Bilbo's house and I teased ye about being a proper lady. The look ye gave me sent shivers up my spine it did. And I tried not to show it by playing with Nori. Then the pie that went from your face to your mouth…" Bofur chuckled sadly. " I know I offended you and I'm sorry for it."

Alicia wasn't expecting that, especially when that wasn't the initial look that she was trying to give. " I should apologize too then, 'cause that was mos'certainly NOT the reaction I meant to cause. But I do have a tendency to "stare" at people without thinking about it." She smiled at him. " But I wasn't insulted, I just didn't know how to react to that. And there was apple pie soooo… I forgot about it" She shrugged. Fili, Kili, and Bofur all giggled at her joke.

Fili snickered. " She likes to stare at people? How rude. I wouldn't believe her if I were you Bofur, she's up to something."

" You're next." She said over her shoulder. Instead of a warning, he took it was another opportunity to flirt with her. " Oh am I? Should I be worried?

" Yes."Alicia said simply.

As the hours past, her thoughts went back to her old life before and after the zombie invasion. Once out graduated from her college, life had been so simple and complicated at the same time. The zombies, made everything simple and desperate. And now, life is simple but hard. She thought about all the tragedies, then all the happiness. She chuckled to herself

" What's so funny?"

Alicia snapped out of it. " What?" Unsure of who was asking, or if they were even talking to her.

Kili looked back at her. " I asked what was so funny. I heard you laughing."

" Your face."

" What? My face?"

" It's funny looking." She answered monotonous.

Kili flustered. " My face isn't funny looking! Your face is funny looking!"

She laughed again, making Kili understand that it was just a joke.

He shook his head. " You've a strange sense of humor Alicia. But to be serious, are you alright?"

This, she couldn't deny. " I'm fine. Tired of the rain too, but otherwise, I'm good. Are you alright?" Was all she could think to say.

" Yes of course, thank you." He beamed.

" Oh I'm sick of all this rain." Dori complained, " Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?"

The wizard huffed. " It will rain master Dori until it decides to stop raining. I cannot control the weather. If you want a weather wizard you should try asking someone else then."

Bilbo thought for a moment. " Are there any?"

" Any what?"

" Any other wizards?"

" Oh there are five of us. There are the blue wizards… well I've quite forgotten their names, Saruman the White and Radaghast the Brown."

" Radaghast? Is he a powerful wizard, or is he like you?" Bilbo asked boldly. Alicia snickered.

" Oh I'd say he's quite powerful in his own way. He prefers the company of animals then people."

'Sometimes they're easier to deal with than people.' Alicia thought to herself.

Gandalf rambled on about other wizards and stories till the leader called a halt for the night again.

Thorin finally called a halt for the night Alicia was all too glad to for it and jumped off the pony to stretch.

While the others unpacked the gear, she slipped off into the woods again, but barely went five feet before Thorin called her, " Where are you going now?"

Well, this is awkward… " I gotta go." She whispered.

" Go where? I haven't told you to go anywhere." He growled back. Dwalin and Gloin watched as here eyes darted nervously before answering. " I gotta pee."

She was hoping he would laugh, but instead he waved her away like an annoying fly before stomping away. Alicia didn't bother thinking anymore of it till she was finished, and on her way back, she picked up any dry wood she could find. As she helped unload the ponies, she thought more about his attitude towards her, and it made her seethe on the inside.

Hmm, I can see he's gonna be one of THOSE kind of leaders…. The sexest asshole. Great, just lovely.

The more she thought about it and listened to his voice the angrier she became, but then she always has shifty moods. Now's no time for people to know that though.

Once again Thorin came up to her after her second trip for dry wood. " Miss Alicia. Thank you for getting wood. Now I would know what other set of skills you can offer."

Alicia tried to keep the irritation from her voice and face. " For camping?" She asked stupidly.

" For our entire journey. You carry a sword. So are you a swordswoman?"

" No, at least not a trained one."

" Then why carry it as if you do?"

" It still has it's uses. Most of my targets are usually too stupid to avoid a sword to the head." She said calmly.

Thorin cast an up-and-down look at her, which made her fix her gaze on him.

" What else? " He asked, or more demanded.

" As far as camping goes. I'm a good scavenger, descent trapper, better fisher."

Thorin was actually fully aware that she was experienced in outdoor living, he was more concerned with her combat skills. " You didn't know what an orc is. What fighting skills do you have? What weapon do you fight with?"

" Whatever I can use." She said pointedly. She began felling painfully self-conscious of his stare. So she offered a slow spreading smile.

Gandalf harrumphed, " Leave the poor child alone Thorin. Come I have to speak with you a moment."

After a moment more, he turned on his heel to join the wizard. Alicia sighed in relief inwardly. If this keeps up, she'll become a Crazy in no time. Crazies are people who have reverted to barbaric ways, raiding, killing, or just going completely insane because they have lost everything, including hope that the world will be better again. A Crazy is slightly different than simple marauders because most marauders have a sense of structure in their own gangs. A crazy person is a broken and insane person. The most undeniable proof that a person was loosing it, was black veins spreading across their body. Alicia had once witnessed a poor man, who's skin resembled a cracked desert from all of his veins. Luckily though, there is a cure for the C virus, as it's also known.

She heard the wizard and leader mutter something about elves. She couldn't catch much, but what ever it was, made Gandalf so frustrated, he trumped away from the camp.

"Where are you going?" Bilbo called after him.

" To find someone reasonable to talk to." Gandalf grumbled.

" And who's that?"

" MYSELF!" Gandalf roared back as he kept storming away.

Alicia chuckled to herself. Oh how she could relate to that! When she realized she wasn't told to do anything, she went around lending her assistance to the others. Afterwards, She sat next to Dwalin and learned how to sharpen her knives and swords with a whetstone.

" Just run it down the length of the blade like so." The gruff dwarf demonstrated. She learned quickly how to do it right. After she was finished, she decided to go for a short walk.

Ori started knitting something and was so caught up in it, he didn't even realize his brother Nori come up and slapped him on the back, startling the artistic dwarf.

Night came and Bilbo was still growing anxious with every minute Gandalf was gone.

" He's a wizard, he comes and goes as he chooses." Bofur said and handed two bowls of stew to Bilbo, " Here, give these to the lads will ya?"

Bofur turned back around just in time to see Bombur try to steal another bite. He slapped his hand, " Na-ah! You've had enough!" Balin looked at the sky, scribbling something down every now and then. Bifur went back to carving something. Dori was in conversation with Oin, talking about different teas and herbs, while Gloin, Nori, and Ori sat contentedly to themselves. At least, until Bofur started showing off his new toy to them.

" It's quite a lovely little lamp. It is a lamp right?" Ori said timidly.

Gloin took it and inspected it more closely.

Bofur showed it to Bifur, Bombur, and Balin.

Balin laughed at the little thing as he gave it a try. " My dear lassie, would you happen to have any plans on marketing this little-Oh." The girl had disappeared.

" Strange, I just saw her right there with Dwalin." Bofur scratched his head as he was given back the mini lamp.

A short time later, Fili came crashing in to the camp. " Trolls! Burglar! Ponies!" He was out of breath.

" What is it lad?" Dwalin jumped up.

Thorin was there in a split second. " What's going on?"

Fili caught his breathe. " Kili and Mr. Bilbo are fighting against three Trolls that stole our ponies!"

" Everyone to arms!" Thorin yelled, then he turned to Alicia, who was still nowhere to be seen.

" Where is that woman?!" He didn't have time to search for her, " Keep an eye out for her! Fili lead on!"

The company snuck up to the three Trolls, just as Kili pulled Bilbo back to his feet and lead him away from the fight. The dwarves launched into the fray, yelling battle cries and brandishing their various weapons. The dwarves fought valiantly, confusing the trolls, beating and/or ganging up on one if a member of the company was in trouble.

Suddenly a troll snatched up Bilbo, another grabbed his left arm and leg and they held him suspended in the air. " Drop your arms, or we'll rip hi off!" One yelled.

Reluctantly, Thorin stuck his sword in the ground, and the others followed his lead, grumbling and glaring at the trolls. The leader of the trolls wasted no time in bagging them up. The job was done quick between all three monsters.

Alicia walked around the less dense part of the forest, looking for signs of game. She found a few footprints of rabbit, but it was an old trail. She even tried to set a couple of traps, just to have an excuse not to go back to the camp just yet. She entertained herself with thoughts of her friends and the jokes that they would crack. She even caught herself laughing and whispering to herself.

Oh no, talking to myself already. She shut up immediately after realizing that, and not a moment too soon. She whirled around to see the dwarves rushing past, not even glancing her way.

Where are they going? She thought to herself, then crept silently after them.

She heard the shouts and clashing of metal as she approached the scene. Hers eyes bulged and jaw dropped when she saw three huge ugly beasts similar to tankers (or hugely mutated zombies that were very strong.). But unlike tankers, these things talked and reacted somewhat smarter than a zombie. Alicia's mind raced with ways to help them. The company fought with practiced battle strategy, making Alicia watch with awe. She saw Dwalin roll and Fili use him like a spring board to land a mighty blow on one of the trolls. She smiled a broad smile, laughed even, at the site of some of the dwarves fighting. Some hit a few cheap blows to the crotch, the toes, and knees. Alicia especially laughed at Nori when he was punted like a football across the entire camp. She giggled at Oin's clumsiness when he fell flat on his back. Bombur didn't seem to care what he hit, as long as he landed his blows on a troll. Alicia chortled again at Nori when he was hoisted up and hanging from his staff by one of the trolls. He kicked and screamed like her old friend Michelle when she was once surrounded by undead, though Nori's scream sounded more like a scared rooster. Nori screams literally like a chicken to her apparently and she enjoyed every second of it! Ori used his slingshot to launch a rock in the Troll's eye, dropping his brother free. Angry, the huge beast lumbered after little Ori. The young dwarf didn't see the huge hand that scooped him up from another troll. Fili was able to free Him luckily.

Next she saw the dwarves put down their weapons when Bilbo was being held hostage, and lastly, all of them literally sacked. She didn't have the usual assault rifles. She would need to distract them long enough for the dwarves to get loose. Quickly the trolls put their spit back together and tied most of the company to it, stripping them down to their underclothes and throwing everything in a pile. Alicia giggled to herself, laughing at the indignity of the dwarves' plight. Had she not remembered that they were still in danger, she would have continued just watching and laughing. A zombie of course, wouldn't waste time stripping their victims either. She eyed their pile of goods just thrown aside, waiting for the taking. Thorin, Bilbo, Balin, Oin, Bombur and Kili and Fili were left on the ground.

Now what?!

One of the trolls lumbered away from the camp. Now Alicia had an idea.

" We'll need to and more sage on this one." One of the trolls said as he poked Dwalin with a stick.

" Bert get me my seasonings." Said the other troll.

" No use the lavender, It'll be a lovely meal before a nap!"

" You ain't the cook tonight I am!"

Balin grumbled, " Great. Now they're arguing about how to cook us." He looked over to see Bilbo sweating profusely. " Don't worry lad. We'll get out of this." Though the old dwarf hardly had any idea himself.

" Is that really necessary?!" Dori yelled at a troll that kept prodding and smelling him.

The troll smiled wickedly at the roasting dwarves. Suddenly the troll that disappeared in the woods let out a loud cry of pain.

" What was that? William? What are you doing in there?!" The Other yelled.

There was more cries along with 'Where are you?!' 'What are you?!'

Finally, the big troll came tumbling back into the camp, legs, feet and hands sporting many new cuts. He whimpered as he held his feet and rocked on the ground. The ligaments on his ankles were severed, he won't be going anywhere very fast.

" Ooooow oh! There's something in the woods. Blimey my feet can't work right!" The troll cried.

" Go find it!" The leader troll ordered the other. " Might be another dwarf or burgla-Obbit."

With a roar, the other came crashing through the woods. There was lots of grunts and vegetation being broken, till something small and masked but fast came running out. The figure ran towards the dwarf pile and snatched up weapons before disappearing again with the second troll running after it.

Dodging this way and that, slashing, twirling, pivoting and steering the trolls in a clumsy dance that had them head butting each other, the figure jumped on William's knee.

The third troll tried to crush her with his fist, but the figure jumped to the other leg. William's first leg was smashed by the third troll.

The figure then scrambled up William, stinging him with knives all the way up to his neck where one of Nori's knives got lodged deep into the troll. Dodging the second one again, the agile figure jumped from William to the third troll and onto the spit, narrowly falling off.

She thought about cutting the dwarves loose, but that would just drop them in the fire. She had to get to the ones on the ground first… Why didn't I just do that first?!

It took a moment even before Thorin realized the figure. " Alicia." He muttered in a voice full of concern.

" What? No, NO! Alicia get out of here!" Bilbo shouted." Get down from there before you fall in the fire!" He struggled to get to his feet.

Alicia ran along the spit, stepping on the dwarves as lightly as possible as she shot arrow after arrow from Kili's bow at the first troll, Bert as he tried to grab her. She slid down the other end of the spit, grabbing a loose piece of firewood and stabbing at the third troll's hand, burning him.

More howls of pain before William cleverly reached over and snatched her before she re-entered the woods.

" Ha! Now I've got you little shadow creature!" William cackled as he sat up. " What are you?" He shook Her roughly. " Come one show us your face!"

Alicia did as demanded, she ripped off the strange cloth that helped her to camouflage better and gasped for air. In fact, her entire outfit was different. She looked like someone painted the forest onto her clothes.

" You think- oh." William looked closer. " This one's female."

" What is she then?" Bert demanded, rubbing his head.

" She ain't no dwarf, too pretty. An' she's too long to be a burgla-Obbit." William slung her this way and that as he examined her. " Maybe she's part plant."

" Good." Said the third one. " We can have a salad with supper." As he straightened up, " Now come on. Dawn's almost here, and I don't fancy being turned to stone." He started back to spinning the spit. The dwarves went back to yelling, though this time, they were shouts of anger and curses towards the trolls.

Alicia struggled just to breathe under in the clutches of the giant hand.

" Wait!" The hobbit yelled unexpectedly. The trolls turned towards him. " You're making a terrible mistake."

" You can't reason with them, they're halfwits!" Dori yelled from the spit.

" Halfwits?" Bofur repeated. " What does that make us?"

" I mean with the uh, the…. The seasoning!" The hobbit hopped closer to get their attention.

" What about the seasoning?" Bert asked.

" Well, have you smelled them? You'll need something stronger than that sage before you can eat this lot." Bilbo tempted. This of course had the dwarves redirecting their scowls towards him.

" He doesn't know what he's talking about!" The third one griped.

" Shut it! Let the uh ferg-aburgla-Obbit speak." Bert bent down closer.

" The uh there's a secret to eating good dwarf." Bilbo continued.

" Yeah? What is it?"

" The secret is.. uh.."

" Yes go on."

" Out with it!"

" Yes I'm telling you the secret it is….. to…skin them first!" He announced. This earned him a whole new barrage of outbursts from the dwarves. Dwalin calling from the spit 'Get me that hobbit, I'm gonna kill 'em!' Gloin calling him a traitor, Fili and Kili yelling at him 'How could you?!'

" What a load of rubbish! I've eaten plenty of them with their skins on." Grumped the third.

William reached back around and dragged Bombur out of the group, hanging him over his mouth. " He's right, nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf! Nice and crunchy."

Alicia kicked and struggled to reach her hidden knives she still had. " Hey! I'm still here halfwit! We ain't done yet! Look at me!"

The troll squeezed her, causing an anguished cry to erupt from her.

" No not that one He's infected!" Bilbo yelled.

Both Bombur and the troll looked at him confused.

" You what?"

" He has worms…in his….tubes." Bilbo lied. Bombur was promptly tossed back into the pile. Alicia was able to breathe again from the slack in the troll's grip. " In fact they're all infected I wouldn't risk it."

" –asites.. Did he say parasites?" Oin asked Kili.

" We don't have any parasites!" Kili yelled. " You have parasites!"

Oh nice come back kili, real genious.. Alicia thought darkly, but she didn't miss Bilbo's eyes roll. Oooooh..

" What are ya talking about laddie-oh!" Oin cried when he suddenly got kicked by Thorin. There was an awkward moment of silence before they all started screaming out that they had parasites of ridiculous amounts and proportions.

" What would you have us do then? Let them all go?!" The third troll stomped towards Bilbo. " You think I don't know what you're up to ya little ferret!"

" Ferret?!" Bilbo flustered.

" Wait. Wait! WAIT!" Alicia yelled. Though it sounded more like a dog's territorial bark. William finally remembered she was there and held her up. " I'm sorry but am I correct in assuming you three are planning on eating these dwarves?" She said almost excitedly.

The trolls, being so easily distracted, turned their full attention to her.

" Well, yeah. 'Course we are." Said William.

" Oh my goodness, there's been a complete misunderstanding then!" She smiled at them.

" If I'd have known that sooner, I would have joined you instead of fought you!"

Bert looked at her, " You eat dwarves too? You're no burgla-obbit."

" Oh no course not. I haven't had a good dwarf supper in ages!" She yelled happily. She turned to William. " Sir what is your name?" Of course she already knew their names but she was trying to buy time after all. They introduced themselves and Alicia introduced herself simply as Al. William allowed her to wiggle out of his grip and stand on his hand.

" I'm terribly sorry for sticking you. Ya see, I've been hunting all day and haven't caught a single morsel. But I see you have plenty to go around, so I'll make you a deal. Share some of that delicious dwarf meat with me and I'll share with you some real meal recipes." She motioned towards the dwarves, pointing at Ori and rubbing her mouth and belly. " Oh he looks decedent and just my size! Can I have that one?" To the trolls, her excitement was like that of a child's.

" Aaaw, look at 'er. She's just a baby! Can we keep her Bert? She likes dwarves and has good recipes for us." William begged. His wriggling almost dumped her on the ground. Bert snatched her from him and placed her on his shoulders. She made herself all too comfortable to the dwarves' liking.

" I'll keep her! You're gonna crush her, you blubbering oaf!"

The third one swung his fist, " No no, she'll just lie to us like that one!"

" I don't even know that one. I came because I thought I smelled something good cooking. What a wonderful meal you have started Bert." Alicia said in Bert's ear.

A big stupid grin spread across his face, " See? At ;east someone appreciates my hard work."

" Now how do you suppose we cook them?"

" Well. Since there's so many, we have the opportunity to try many different dishes. One of my favorites is Dwarf –spaghetti. This particular dish needs.. um… parsley, meat sauce and a pot of water. Oh, and we can't forget the noodles!" Alicia chattered like a happy child making cookies.

As the trolls argued over which ingredient they did and didn't have, Alicia slipped one of Fili's knives out and tossed it to the feet of Bilbo. He fell back down clumsily on it and tried to cut his way out.

Just as he got out, Gandalf appeared over a large rock, " The dawn will take you!" He announced.

" Who's that?" One troll asked.

" No idea."

" Can we eat him too?"

Before they had the chance to grab him, the grey wizard broke the large stone by slamming his staff down, causing a tremor to ripple out and the rock to break in half. The sun glowed brightly throughout the camp, causing everyone to shield their eyes. The trolls grunted and were suddenly turning to stone right under the survivor! The next thing she knew, she was stuck on top of a giant statue with no gentle way of getting down.

With a wave of his hand, Gandalf doused the flames under the cooking dwarves. The hobbit cut the others on the ground free and they all helped get the spit down. That was no easy task either, but with careful execution, and more help from Gandalf, the company made it safely out of their bonds.

" Where is she? Where's Alicia?" Bilbo asked frantically.

" Find her, spread out!" Thorin ordered. He circled the trolls, searching their shoulders. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement and his eyes fell upon the woman falling roughly to the ground off of the shoulder of the troll behind him. He rushed by her side and helped her up.

" Are you injured?" He asked. She staggered to her feet, holding his shoulder for support. The king easily helped her up, checking for any injuries.

" I'm good. Thank you." She looked around at the others who re-gathered around her, shoulders drooped sullenly. " I'm sorry."

" Sorry?!" Balin mocked. " There's nothing to be sorry for! That was very resourceful and cunning if I've ever seen it!"

" Those trolls went from killers to friends in a split second!" Bofur added in between jumbling his clothes and weapons back on. Bilbo rushed up to her, also checking for any broken bones.

Bifur said something in his own language and made gestures to her. Bombur nodded in agreement.

" Yes, smart and courageous indeed."

Fili and Kili came up to her, big grins on their faces. They bowed in unison. Fili smirked, " Aye, not bad. As soon as she saw she was done for, she walked over everyone, steals our weapons and joins the enemy. With allies like you, there is no need for enemies."

The girl whirled on him, pointing at him and speaking in a mock warning voice, " Just you wait till I get my appetite back, I'm gonna eat you for real! It's gonna be called Fili soufflé!" The three shared a laugh.

Dwalin came up to her and cleared his throat. He lifted an eyebrow and motioned to her hands, where his gauntlets were.

" Oh. I guess you want these back."

" Aye. I do."

She smiled her devious smile again, but handed over his gauntlets and small knife that she also had of his. " Also, I hope your gut is okay. Didn't mean to step on you like that."

He looked at her warily for a moment, then clapped her on the back, nearly pitching her into the ground, with a big smile on his face and a deep chuckle. She then gave back everyone's gear that she still had as they made it back to camp, grumbling about what those trolls did to them, giving Nori and extra pointed grin. He raised an eyebrow at her, but let it go and caught up with the others.

Alicia watched the dwarves with her usual devious smile mixed with amusement.

This smile did not go unnoticed by Thorin.


	6. Chapter 6 - Love and be hated

** I would like to thank you for all your reviews, ideas and suggestions. I'm especially happy that my crazy story has captured your interests. I think I might be adding a few new twists and events in the story later on... (^_^) Here is the next chapter, I hope this one is more appealing to my readers.**

The company took a quick break to catch their breath before departing again.

Alicia got many pats on the back from the dwarves as she packed her things, Bilbo right next to her.

Thorin gave Gandalf a pointed look. " We were almost eaten by them Gandalf, no thanks to your burglar."

" It is because of Bilbo's quick thinking that stalled them long enough for them to be turned to stone, if you haven' t noticed." Gandalf answered calmly.

" And what of you? Where did you go?" Thorin asked again.

" To scout ahead."

" How did you know we were in danger?"

" Looking behind."

Alicia smiled at that, but her quiet chuckle wasn't quiet enough, Thorin still heard her and gave her on e of his own suspicious glare. " And what of you woman? Where did you learn to fight?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

" Everywhere that involved me in a fight I suppose, though I never had any real training. I just act on what's most logical I guess." She answered sheepishly.

" Climbing onto a troll's fire spit was logical to you?" The dwarf king scoffed.

"…No…. but it was… distracting….so Bilbo could entertain them with fake cooking ideas long enough for Gandalf o turn them to stone." She answered.

He showed no signs of amusement. " You did nothing but put on a show yourself and you You must learn to properly defend yourself from now on." He turned on his heels.

Alicia fidgeted, muttering under her breath only loud enough for Bilbo to hear, " Everyone's still okay."

He patted her one the back.

" There must be a cave nearby where the trolls would stay during the day. We should find it." Gandalf advised.

The company searched the area looking for signs, When Gloin called out that he found it.

They gathered around the entrance, peering inside.

It smelled like dead bodies to Alicia. A smell she was all too familiar with and it put her on edge.

" There may be more, or something else in there." She hinted.

Gandalf, Thorin, Dwalin and Gloin went inside first. They soon secured the area and everyone looked inside, covering their noses.

Inside made Alicia giddy, " Looter's rights." She said happily. Nori heard and smiled at her.

" I like the way you think girl." He winked at her.

Bofur looked down at a pile of gold coins, " It seems a shame to just leave it here."

" You're right." Said Gloin. " Nori, get a shovel."

Alici wandered around the cave, grabbing bags, searching them and clothing, weapons etc.

She saw Dwalin standing at the entrance stoicly. He looked at the three dwarves burying a chest of gold.

" We're making a long term deposit." Gloin explained. This only made Dwalin shake his head. Alicia shrugged and went back to her raiding. Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff she found reeked of troll, maybe she can wash them in the river later. She found a leather jacket that fit her a little big, some extra knives, shoes, and worn gloves.

" You're not going to wear those are you?"

Alicia looked up towards Fili. " If I can get the roll smell eliminated. Otherwise they still look functional to me."

He followed her outside where Oin, Dori, Ori, Balin and Bombur waited and rested their feet by the river. They gave her inquisitive looks as they saw her with her arms full of loot.

" You must be joking! " Fili laughed nervously, but the rest of his smile disappeared as he saw that she clearly was not joking.

Ori craned his neck, " What's she doing?"

" Enjoying the spoils of her victory I suppose." Fili concluded.

Alicia beamed, happy at her spoils. She grabbed a bottle of detergent from her bag and scrubbed the clothing clean, laying them to dry over a branch. She held the leather jacket up for Dori.

" I don't want it." He turned up his nose.

" I… wasn't giving it to you. I just wanted you to look at it. What do you think, it's still decent besides the smell right?" She said in a happy child-like demeanor. Dori shook his head. " Come on, you're… an expert in fashion right?"

The elderly dwarf guffawed, " I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that! Yes I suppose it's still, erm, salvageable. I would sell it and use the money to buy something better."

Alicia smiled complacently and sat down with them. Oin was sorting through his ointments contentedly.

Fili went back to the cave. Ori took his water skin out and drank greedily.

" Look at you, covered in scrapes from those awful trolls!" Dori said as he watched his youngest brother. Ori spilled some water at the side of his mouth. Dori reached up and wiped his cheek clean with his sleeve. Alicia snickered, earning a mock glare from Ori.

Ori gently shrugged off Dori's hand. " I'm fine Dori. It's just a few scratches is all."

Oin held up a jar, " I've got some salve here if you need."

Alicia could clearly see how close knit the brothers were, and she missed that from her own family.

" If you don't mind my asking, after ya'll left home, what did you do?" She asked sheepishly again.

Dori smiled and waved it off, " It's alright dear. Ori was only just able to run and talk at the time of the evacuation. Our parents, which was our mother and Ori's father, we're half- brothers you see, died by the dragon while we tried to flee. Nori went to trickery and thievery, I went to selling and trading goods, as well as any extra earnings I can get from working at an inn for a room for us. When I didn't have the funds, Nori would provide for us. I still don't like the way he gets things, but when I couldn't do it, I try not to complain too much. Eventually we found a stable way of life in the markets with attires for man and dwarf."

"It sounds like you came a long way. I'm glad the three of you are so well off now." She thought about what she said. " Well, you know…"

" Thank you sweet heart. Now, would you do us the honor of telling us about yourself?" Dori asked.

" Honor? Not sure about all that." Alicia joked. " Well, my life, not to brag, but it was a good life. I was a spoiled brat by my family, which was really big. We had around twenty six cousins and counting. I also had one younger brother."

Dori let out a long whistle.

" We weren't super wealthy, but we weren't poor either. I was able to go to college, and sometimes I would sleep at my parents' house, and sometimes at my grandparents'. I actually really liked all the travelling. It was nice and I just graduated when the bio war-." Alicia cut herself off quick, not wanting to say too much about it. However, Dori caught it.

" The bio war? What's that?"

" It's a biological war. A kind of war that's fought with diseases instead of arrows and swords." She answered evenly. Dori looked at her, both with wonder and fear. " R-really?"

" That's what happened to my family." She paused a moment, thinking of how to tell it without sounding to dramatic or 'poor me'.

" They got sick?" Ori asked.

Alicia tilted her head up looking at the sky. " Yes. Very sick, and there was no cure. The sickness wasn't like a deadly cold, if infected, it makes the victim hungry for flesh."

Ori's back stiffened, Oin had a deep scowl on his face, though whether it was from her talking or the thought of that happening, she didn't know, so she stopped.

" And you say your family was infected? How were they stopped? What happened to you during that time?" Dori was too enthralled in her horror story, oblivious to what he was asking to hear. She glanced at him with eyes that suddenly turned deadly, dark and worst of all, empty.

" My group, we made a promise to each other, that if anybody got infected, we wouldn't condemn them to wandering the world, eating other people, so we would put the infected out of their misery. At the time, only I was around. So we said our goodbyes and I put my mother, father and brother to rest."

At the end of her story, Alicia couldn't meet anybody's eyes for a while. Her eyes darted from one object to the next on the ground as she took a deep breath to clear her emotions.

" You… killed your family?" Dori asked appalled, and he looked at her like she wasn't human, but some alien barbarian creature. Before she could defend herself Oin snorted angrily.

He wagged his ear horn at Dori, " No you fool! Did you not pay attention!? She didn't kill her family, the sickness did, she just stopped them from killing other families."

The two Ri brothers didn't look any less horrified, just more confused. It was Alicia's turn to scowl.

She got up, smoothing her face back and locked eyes with the brothers. " I'm sorry I told you. I'll not say anything again." And she walked away, to scared to risk saying anything else with her throat tightening, tears threatening to fall. What could she say? She thought that since they suffered for a while too that they might understand, but that's too much to ask for. As she walked, she saw Thorin giving orders that they would have to rest here, a storm was coming, and not one that safe enough for them to keep on their journey.

He looked at her curiously.

" Firewood?" she asked.

" No, Dwalin picked up the pile we had at our old camp, we have plenty for the night."

" 'Kay. What would you like me to do?"

" Rest, as much as you can." He answered. He looked her up and down a moment, " What are you wearing? Those clothes look like you painted them to match the forest."

Alicia looked down, realizing that she was wearing her hunting get-up. That would explain the subtle confused looks from the other members. Some of the closest dwarves looked up or leaned closer to listen.

" That's exactly what they're for actually. It's called camouflage we I'm from, makes it harder for things to see you." She explained. Once again, Thorin was satisfied with her answer.

" When did you have time to change and why?" He asked.

" Right before battling the trolls. And because I thought I could confuse them while I found a way to getcha'll outta there." She shrugged. " Didn't quite work out the way I originally planned. Buuuut I never had to fight a troll before either, lesson learned." She wasn't lying either. The closest thing they had to trolls where she came from were tanker zombies and they relied mostly on their sight and hearing.

" I see. You tend to be reckless and impulsive at times, traits that you share with my nephew Kili. You could have gotten severely injured, past any of our abilities to heal you. Be more careful next time if you want to stay with us." He scolded. It seems he was in a particularly bad mood.

" Ten four." Alicia affirmed.

" What? Fourteen? Thorin asked.

" Uh, no sorry I meant yes sir." She smiled apologetically. Thorin dipped his head in finally understanding her.

Alicia certainly liked the sound of that. She saw Bilbo thinking to himself, smoking his pipe and staring at a short sword he had.

" Hey Bilbo, whatcha doin'?" She asked as she sat beside him.

" Just having a smoke really. Gandalf gave me this. I'm not sure what he hopes I could do with it. I have no idea how to use a sword." The hobbit said.

" Well, that makes two of us." She answered curtly. Her silence had Bilbo raising his brow.

" What's the matter dear?"

She fidgeted again," Technically, you're my best friend here, and I said I'd tell you a little about me, its only fair." Then told him the story of her family, what she told Dori, Oin, and Ori. She half expected him to act the same way, hoping that he wouldn't. To her great relief, he didn't. He could see her eyes welling with tears that she fought back. He gingerly patted her shoulders, then stroked back some loose strands from her face.

" I'm glad you told me, honored even to have finally heard a part of your story. How long ago did this happen?" He asked.

" A year and a half ago, roughly." She answered down-spirited.

" You're still trying to make peace with it."

" No, I mean, well… I've come to terms with it a long time ago, but it's still, uh, sad sometimes." She stuttered.

Bilbo smiled a knowing smile, " Of course it is. I don't know much about where you're from still, but I know we all do what we must. You did what you had to do and you made peace with them before they died yes? I don't think any less of you." He scanned the other members of the group, watching them busy themselves with preparing for the storm of filling their pockets. " Most of these dwarves are warriors, they'll understand what drastic measures mean, though I still wouldn't tell anyone else about it yet if I were you."

Alicia gave a thin smile, happy that Bilbo was so un-judgmental. Alicia made herself more comfortable, laying down next to him.

Gandalf came walking by." You know you two have a share in the troll treasure too, fill your pockets while you can." He chuckled

" Due to that fast approaching storm, we won't be going anywhere for a while. Some others have gone hunting before the storm comes. I think I'll take a rest for a while." He picked a spot and made himself comfortable as well.

After she felt better, she decided to look around again. She found two old hats, one similar to a sock hat and the other more of a wide brimmed hat with an old feather stuck at the side. She grabbed them and sat by Bombur, Bifur and Bofur. Bofur looked up and watched her with a curious raise of his brows.

Alicia smiled broadly and presented the two hats to him, causing him to laugh merrily. " You should try 'em on."

" Oh I think I'll stick to my hat lass." Bofur teased. He reached over to pick up his hat, but the girl grabbed it away. Bifur said something in his language gesturing towards the hats. Bofur sighed, " Alright. I'll try them on." Alicia fixed the sock hat on him first, she couldn't hide the smile on her face. He looked different but cute, like just waking up. " Well, this one says yer ready for bed." She took the sock hat off and fixed the nobleman's hat on. He also looked quite handsome in this hat. Bofur chuckled at her enthusiasm. " I'm not gonna lie. You look quite handsome. " The dwarf's brows shot up once again. Bifur and Bombur laughed at their kin's shocked expression.

" Do I?" Bofur said. " Well, perhaps I should keep this one as well." He joked as he struck a pose. Alicia made a motion and face, getting the dwarf to mimic it. He struck a smug look and ran his pointer and thumb down the length of one side of his moustache.

" One more." Alicia laughed and grabbed her hat to place on Bofur's head. Bifur Tilted his head to the side. Alicia made a face.

" What? Not good? Do I look like the dangerous one now?" Bofur teased again. " Or maybe just looks too charming for words?"

Bifur spoke again as he leaned back a little.

" Leading an exploration expedition?" Bofur translated striking an explorer pose.

" Yes." Alicia said. " You look better in my hat than I do. I could probly' put a potted plant or a fountain sculpture on your head and you'd make it look good."

Bofur laughed again and this time his cheeks even turned a shade of pink, he stood up and made a flourishing bow taking her hat off as he did so. "Why thank you my sweet lady. It humbles me to have impressed such a lovely lady as yourself."

"I bet you say that to all the other ladies." Alicia teased back as they traded hats. She was greatly enjoying making Bofur blush. " I think Bifur and Bombur would look good in a nobleman's hat too." She smiled at them.

" Not much for hats myself." Bombur stated with a smile.

Bifur pointed to his axe in his head and said something, though this time the survivor had a good idea of what he was saying. _Can't wear a hat because of the axe head. _

She saw Gloin and Nori still on their knees and excused herself to check on them. " How's that long term deposit coming?"

Gloin grinned with satisfaction as he patted the pile of dirt where his trunk of gold rested. " We're done. The rest is for everyone else."

She looked over to Nori, who was inspecting a pile of gold coins, She noticed the coins had two different designs on them and she picked one of each up. " So Nori, where are these coins from?"

Nori pointed the one in her right hand, " That ones an old Rohiric coin, still used around here. The other is Gondorian. They're both of equal value, just different location."

She began to ask him about currency and their values, which Nori explained clearly, even gave her a few of his swindling tips. " Just in case you're in need of a few extra coins. You're not too bad of a thief yourself. I saw you take our stuff while the trolls were busy roasting us."

Alicia flashed him a very devious grin, " Not thief, looter."

" What's the difference?"

" A thief steals whatever from whoever whether they need it or not. A looter takes what they need from those who don't need it anymore or never used it at all. Like one man's trash is another man's treasure kinda thing." Alicia tried to justify.

Nori snorted bemusedly at her made-up definitions. " If it makes you feel better about it, call it what you want. But I still wanted my knives, _especially_ at that moment."

" And you get them back didn'tchu'?"

" This time." Nori joked. " I also notice you mostly pick up clothes in here. No interest in good gold?"

" Very observative." She replied. " Mostly I take things that are more key to survival, food, water, shelter, medicinal supplies, and clothing."

" What about money to buy extra supplies?"

" What if money doesn't matter to the shop owners? Say the economy crashes so bad that no one really has the luxury of using money. It's completely lost it's value because you can't eat it or use it to buy supplies? If the shop owner wants medicine or clothing for his meats, what good is a shiny coin until the economy is restored?"

Nori knew exactly what she was talking about, knew that she was speaking from experience. He nodded in understanding. " Aye. You have a point. I've had to do that too. Still, a good thief or looter never misses an opportunity." He flipped a gold coin in the air and caught it triumphantly.

"True that my friend. Speaking of looting, I will talk to you later." Alicia got up again. Nori waved and went back to his appraising. Before the rains came, Alicia grabbed her looted clothing that she left out to dry and hung them on niche's in the cave wall. The entire company crowded inside, picking a spot to rest for the day. The survivor shifted through other piles of stuff around the cave as the rain poured. She found barrels of swords which she examined. If only her friends were here now, they'd have a field day. She wondered if she would be able to carry some extras to bring back to them. That's also assuming she would find a way to get back. She stared at a pair of rusty trimmers. They were huge and looked a little different than regular branch trimmers. " Either that's a big-ass nail clippers or a dinky-ass branch trimmer." She muttered to herself.

Balin grinned, " Those are for cutting chains actually." He said between laughs

She smiled back, not really wanting anyone to hear her cheesy joke, but still glad that it made the old dwarf laugh.

She saw Thorin come up to her again, his face clear of the scowl earlier. " Lady Alicia. I wish to speak with you."

She nodded and waited for him to begin.

" Privately."

" Oh." She got up and followed him deeper into the cave, to a section where the smell was not near as strong.

Alicia tried not to stare at him, but she truly wished she could have a mindset similar to his, knowing what to say and how to say it, having an air about oneself that said I am in control. Right now, her mind was more like a child's, wondering what she did wrong and how to come up with the best excuses. Once they found a spot to his liking, he turned back to regard her. His face was like the eerie calm before the storm and she found it hard not to show how it truly affected her.

" I understand you are not from here. Yet you seem to be adapting well." He started.

Alicia dropped her shoulders some, " Thank you. I'm doing what I can, learning as I go."

" What have you learned about Middle Earth? Exactly how different is it from yours?"

" Bilbo and I like to read every now an' then and before we joined this quest, He would read aloud some of his books while I helped around the house. This world is extremely different from my own, but, it's nice."

" Is your strange attire common where you're from?"

" Well, it's not common, but it's not strange either. People dress a certain way for each occasion." She smiled. The mountain king did not share her humor, so her smile faded away quickly.

" For a girl who has no experience in swordsmanship, you displayed a good level of skill earlier, before you were captured."

She shrugged gently.

" And what about what happened after that? Befriending the trolls… what do you call that?"

Alicia thought carefully about her answer. " Bilbo seemed like he was trying to distract them, it looked like he was losing their attention, so I tried it myself. Then I understood after Gandalf showed up. Do all the enemies turn to stone like that?" a slow smile spread across her face but t was gone again by Thorin's curt 'No. Only the trolls.'

" What you did was excessive, a waste of time. Why didn't you just come untie us on the ground first?"

The dwarf interrogated.

" I saw one of them coming my way. I thought I would distract them with some unknown enemy, sneak back around as they went searching, and cut you loose."

" A horrible plan."

Alicia's mouth clamped shut and she looked at him like he had three heads growing out and one of them was retarded. The one talking was the retarded one right now. Inside she felt a sudden flare in temper, like now she had become a raging storm. For a moment, she entertained the fantasy of pulling out a bazooka and just blowing up the trolls, drowning the dwarves in gore and leaving them for a while to watch them try to free themselves. The few seconds that this cartoon played in her mind, Thorin said nothing. Alicia blinked and focused on calming down. '_Such morbid comedies already! I need tea.'_

" Have I offended you?" Thorin asked.

'_What do you care ASS!?' _ " No sir. What should I have done, after I freed you first?"

Thorin tilted his head back, " Help get the others down, help the burglar free the ponies, and if any of us get too injured, pull us to safety."

'_So support team. I see.' _ The survivor said nothing, just nodded her understanding.

"What are your targets?" Thorin asked again.

" What?"

" You once said that your 'targets' are usually too dumb to dodge a blade. What are your targets?" Thorin clarified.

" Anything I know I can hit easily-."

" Not good enough. I grow tired of your vague answers woman. Tell me the truth. Is it Orc? Goblin? Man?" The leader pressed stepping forward with one hand snaking towards his sword.

Alicia grew quickly frustrated with him. What is the point of this?

" Stupid people who are trying to kill me first for any reason, wild animals I can't get away from, but usually zombies." She answered slowly, not sure if she should have mentioned the zombies.

Thorin's brows furrowed. " What is a zombie?"

Once again, his retarded head is talking…

" A, um, an undead basically."

" Un-dead? Necromancy?"

" Well, sorta, except we don't have magic where I come from. No wizards or dragons, no elves, hobbits or dwarves. Just humans, animals and robots, which are like machines where some could think for themselves. They help make our lives easier and more efficient at times."

" You speak of things that are impossible woman."

" I thought a real dwarf was impossible before coming here." She defended. " Along with hobbits, elves dragons, wizards, and trolls.

' Zombies are undead that are not spawned from any magical element. They were thought to only exist in our imaginations. Some people dress up as them during certain festivals or for thrill seeking entertainment. No one ever thought it was possible to make them real. Even as well armed as the citizens of my home country are known to be, we couldn't stop every zombie, especially if every person that died, would come back as animated corpses to eat the living, unless you specifically destroyed the brain."

The scowl Alicia had grown all too familiar with had re-appeared on the king's face. Alicia decided that it no longer meant as much to her anymore, since that's all she ever saw when he looked her way. The silent moment after that wasn't making her feel any better either. She shifted under Thorin's piercing gaze, retaliating with one of her own impassive stares.

" From the start you were very strange. You are shifty, crafty, and unpredictable perhaps un-reliable too. You seem to know how to get people to like you and when to disappear." With each word he stepped closer, until he was just out of arm's reach from her. Yet the survivor refused to back down, having dealt with men who thought they could intimidate her into complete submission. But Alicia wasn't that big of an idiot, she knew full well Thorin wouldn't be near as easy to knock down as some arrogant fool.

" I still do not know what Gandalf sees in you, or how the burglar can trust you so well. You may have the others of my company fooled but not me."

" I'm not trying to fool anyone." Alicia interrupted. " I'm just trying to learn and help is all."

He looked at her as if searching for any hint of a lie. " At least you seem to be telling the _whole_ truth now. You and I both agree upon how distracting you can be. Stay away from my nephews for a while, my men tend to lose sight of our quest temporarily when you're around them for too long."

Alicia had no words for what he just said, but she knew he could tell how appalled she felt just by looking at her face. She held his stare for a moment before looking down and biting the inside of her lip.

Thorin said nothing more, he walked past her and returned to the camp.

Alicia bit her lip so hard that she ripped a small piece of the flesh off. She caught herself entertaining her first gory fantasy more, but shook her head to clear it when she realized what she was day dreaming. Could she really wish that on good Bilbo or innocent Ori? How was she able to think of such gruesome images to begin with? In her colony she tried to focus on images of harmonious paradise, here, it seemed the opposite just happened. She decide it was because all around her smelled like troll and blood. Tears began to sting her eyes. This time, she didn't care to fight them back, no one was around to witness.

One thing she hated most about herself was how sensitive she sometimes was. She could take a physical injury anytime, but words, that's what made the tears flow like a waterfall. She heard an echo of Gandalf's voice, asking Thorin of her whereabouts. The dwarf replied saying that she needed a moment.

She smirked when she heard Gandalf's scolding tone again, yet she didn't care to ease his worry by returning to the camp. She didn't care to see anyone again. No one's ever told her to stay away from anyone because _she_ was the danger. The feeling was strange and slightly familiar to her. She prayed for guidance as to what to do next. Closing her eyes, she took slow deep breaths, planning on what to do next. _Be patient, have a little faith. Everything happens for a reason. God wouldn't have let you come here if he didn't think you could handle it_. Alicia comforted herself.

She stayed there in the dark cavern for as long as she could, until the grey wizard came calling for her.

" Alicia? Bombur has lunch for us. Won't you come join us again?"

No answer.

" Alicia my dear. Where did you go?" Gandalf gingerly stepped around broken bones, bent weapons and jagged rocks, looking around for any sign of movement. He was startled slightly when the girl's form suddenly appeared beside him in the light. " I'm here."

" Don't you know better than to startle an old man like that?!" He chastised.

" Sorry." Alicia creaked.

The wizard waved it off, " Never mind, come. Let's eat and rest for the day. This rain might be just the break we need for a good long rest."

Silently, she followed him back to the camp. Upon looking around, she could obviously see the weariness on each member's face. She inadvertently looked at the young prince brothers. Their shoulders were slumped and they had sad looks on their faces as they made eye contact with her. Alicia offered a sad smile in return, and made sure she went the opposite side of the fire to get back to her spot by Bilbo. She ate quickly to pass her bowl to another. Not even Bofur's happy flute music could brighten her mood. In fact, it made her even sadder and she tried to not look at him to tune him out. She drew in her own sketchbook a while, then closed her eyes, curled up against the wall, and cat-napped while it poured outside. Tears still leaked out of her closed eyes. There was no denying it, she had grown to love the company from the start, and now they may grow to hate her if they all agreed with Thorin. Would she be able to hate back?


	7. Chapter 7 This is my last resort

**Hello again! So sorry for the huge delay! (Don't cuss me) I had issues and other problems to resolve. :P But here is the next chapter and please, keep the reviews a-comin'. Thanks for your patience!**

NEXT CHAPTER 7 - Refuge

Needless to say, sleep was unrest full. Her body was relaxed, but her mind kept reeling. Thoughts of her old friends, how they were two years ago to now, flittered in her mind. She thought of how they would react to this strange medieval company. The jokes and openness towards each-other would probably have the entire company's big ears turn red. She tossed and rolled a lot, perhaps even accidentally kicking someone who rested near her feet. The dwarves took turns resting, eating, singing and telling stories, or keeping watch. They talked about their own families, funny stories they heard here and there, what they would do after getting Erebor back, etc.

Unfortunately, the girl felt no sympathy for any of them at the moment. Neither did she feel inspired, or motivated by any of them. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, but then, she didn't care either. She even wished that they would all just shut up for the rest of the day. Of course the last thing she would need right now is one of her random outbursts. The survivor would look towards Bilbo who didn't seem to be in as foul a mood as her, probably because he's able to fall _completely_ asleep and not cat-nap like her.

As she looked around at everyone, she felt like the goose among the ducks, the black sheep in the herd of white sheep. These people had so much history behind them, they were so close to each other. Even though they lost their homes too (basically), that was really all she had in common with them. Back in her lake house colony, raising and growing food, fighting almost every day for their lives against undead and marauders, rebuilding something useful out of trash, that's the life she belonged to. Not this, going on epic quests of fame and fortune. She couldn't lie to herself though, there were times when she dreamt of doing something else like this. _So I shouldn't be complaining too much I suppose._

She was an expendable, nothing more. Was it strange that she felt a spark of pride at this thought? She couldn't quite figure out why, but maybe she would later if she still cared.

Gandalf stretched his back, popping a few bones before getting up to stretch his legs.

" The rain seems to have dwindled down a bit it seems." He mused as he made his way to the mouth of the cave. The old wizard looked down at the girl who just tried to look nonchalant. A knowing smirk tugged at his lips, but his eyes were full of warmth.

Thorin ran a hand through his hair, then stood up. " The rain has finally slowed. We should get going now."

Just as the company got up and repacked their things, the rain picked up to a heavy downfall again, accompanied by lightning flashes.

" I'm not going out in that storm." Gandalf said, who never even moved a muscle.

The king let out and exasperated sigh.

It was another half hour before the rain finally came to a stop. The company stepped out onto the muddy ground gingerly. The ponies, luckily were safe under another much smaller cave that the trolls used to put any live game they caught to save for the next night. They were packed up and readied to go.

The survivor fidgeted, she knew gong to Fili or Kili would be a bad idea, and she wasn't sure what Ori thought about her now, so she wasn't sure asking him for a ride was a good idea. Bilbo? Bofur? Would that be too improper, being the only girl here and all. Well, She's known Bilbo for the longest, and shouldn't be disagreeable to Thorin.

" Hey Bilbo." She greeted " Would it be okay if I rode with you this time?"

A small look of surprise flashed across the hobbit's face. " Why of course you can Alicia."

So she briskly climbed up behind him and the ponies were set at a light jog.

As they rode on, her silence did not go unnoticed by Bilbo. It was passed an hour since she said anything again. In fact, if he hadn't looked over his shoulder, he'd have forgotten she was even there, he could barely even sense her presence.

" The sun has been shinning so bright now. The rain is drying up rapidly." Bilbo said.

" Mm-hm." Alicia agreed.

" You sure are quiet."

" Yeah. I guess I don't really have much to say."

" Hmm, No funny questions to ask?" Bilbo joked.

She snorted amusingly. " Guess not."

" Are you still sad about the way some of the dwarves reacted to your past? Don't you mind them anymore. Dwarves don't like change or know much about how to deal with it sometimes. If they don't understand, it's none of their concern anyway." Bilbo tried to cheer her up. But that wasn't the problem.

She sighed, " It's not really them." She dropped her voice to a whisper only her could hear. " Thorin had a talk with me back at the cave."

" Oh? What did he say? If you don't mind my asking."

Alicia summarized what the dwarf leader said to her as they rode. She saw Bilbo stiffen as he listened.

He stammered a couple of times after she was finished.

" It's alright Bilbo, he did have a few good points." She said.

Bilbo shook his head, curly brown hair bouncing everywhere. " No no. It's not alright!"

Bofur and Gloin looked back at hearing Bilbo's outburst.

" Eh? What's not alirght?" Gloin asked.

" Uh, bugs. These insects buzzing about my ears is all, dreadful things." Bilbo lied.

Gloin and Bofur chuckled and turned back around. Alicia smiled at Bilbo's excuse.

When no one was paying attention to them anymore, Bilbo continued in a more hushed tone. " He shouldn't have said those things, especially so harshly. My dear we all are fully aware that you are not from here, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're evil and not to be trusted."

" What made it so easy for you to trust me?" The question flew out of her mouth before she realized what she asked.

Bilbo shifted a little then straightened back up, " When I found you covered in, a horrible mess you were lying on the ground as if your time has come and I honestly thought it had. But when you looked at me, I didn't see someone who was going to harm me. I saw someone who was weary to the bone, albeit lost, but friendly. I just trusted it, and when I led you home and you were so gentle, I knew I made a right choice. Sometimes, I believe that's how you find out how truly trustworthy someone is, when you have let them into your life for a while."

Alicia was so moved by his words, it felt like her emotions were returning and calming down again. What he said was something she wasn't expecting but probably still needed to hear. " I'm truly honored that you would think that about me. Thank you, and I hope never to betray your trust."

The hobbit smiled contentedly to himself. " Think nothing of it miss. What are friends for after all."

That's when something dinged inside her head. Something her mother used to tell her, 'True friends are those who accept who you are like you accept them.' It seems that Bilbo, Kili and Fili were the ones who did that. And what did she have to prove to any of them anyway? To go on some adventure to reclaim a home that she had no part of? What if Thorin decided that he no longer wanted her in his company? Well, she would find a way back to her colony one way or another. She's been lost before, although during the times she as lost before she still had an idea of where she was and how to get back home. This place took those advantages from her. Still, she had faith.

During her thoughts, the pony suddenly jolted and almost tripped. Alicia didn't have time to grab hold of anything and easily slid off with a very ungraceful thud. She scrambled back up to her feet and ran after the rapidly leaving company.

" Miss Alicia!" Billbo cried trying to get his pony to stop, but he only aggravated it and the pony bucked again and whinnied. The pony bumped into others before Oin could get a hold of it's reins and calm him down.

" What were you trying to do lad, race us?" Oin joked with his booming voice, a common trait in his family it seemed.

" That's the best pony jig I've ever seen!" Bofur teased as the very flustered Bilbo tried to straighten back up in his saddle.

As the dwarves laughed at the hobbit's rodeo show, Gandalf leaned back to notice Alicia come running up from behind. " We've almost forgotten someone."

The girl came to a halt beside Bilbo, looking equally as embarrassed.

The laughter was renewed again when she suddenly appeared, huffing slightly from the run. She offered a smile at the hobbit as she climbed back up.

Thorin, for a moment, smirked at their clumsiness. He saw a clearing up ahead that would be a good spot to rest a moment and lead the company there.

" We have made good ground Master Dwarf, no need to pace around like a trapped fox." Gandalf said to Thorin as the company enthusiastically set about cooking lunch.

The dwarf king watched his nephews, who looked to him then hung their heads in understanding and stayed to themselves. Thorin had given them the same warning to stay away from the woman. He was satisfied enough to see that the woman also head his warning, as she said little to the others.

Gandalf harrumphed at Thorin and lit his pipe. As he watched the company, he too noticed an subtle but unusual tension, a distancing from each other, particularly the young girl. " Hmm." He casually made his way to her as she went rummaging through her pack. Just before he was able to say something, one of the dwarves shouted that something was coming and approaching fast.

They pulled out their weapons almost simultaneously and stood on guard. Alicia eased to her feet, pulling out the two daggers she pilfered from the cave troll.

" Thieves! Liars! Murderers!" came a high pitched panicked voice echoing through the woods.

The survivor froze in place and gawked at the sudden appearance of a sleigh being pulled by large rabbits right beside her. Two of the rabbits looked up at her with big black eyes.

She smiled at how cute they were and quickly put her daggers away.

" Oh! Hello there Miss!" Said the strange man from behind the sleigh, he hopped off and hobbled to her.

" I don't mean to be rude, but I'm looking for someone you see."

" Oh yeah?" She was very amused by the man and tried not to stare rudely at him. " I'm guessing a gardener perhaps?"

The man giggled at her, " Oh no perhaps later thank you. I'm looking for an old friend. He's tall, old, wears grey a lot and has a oversized pointy hat and a staff. His name is Gandalf."

" Radaghast the Brown! What on earth are you doing here?" Gandalf interrupted, making his way to the two.

The brown wizard looked over " Oh yes that's him! You found him thank you!"

The girl just smiled and nodded, trying not to laugh in case it might insult Gandalf even more.

" Gandalf! I have terrible news! Terrible terrible news!" He said after shaking the girl's hand in thanks.

" Yes?" said the grey wizard.

Radaghast mad an attempt to say something, then stopped to think about it. He made another and failed again, " Oh I had a thought. And now I've lost it! I just had it Gandalf!" Suddenly he went stiff.

" Oh wait. It's not a thought at all. It's just a little old stick bug." He opened his mouth and out crawled a stick bug. Gandalf casually pulled it from his mouth and dropped it in his hands.

Alicia flinched at the bug crawling out of his mouth, with a very wide gawk on her face. " That's interesting."

After the brown wizard calmed down, he pulled him aside to speak privately. Alicia reached down to the rabbits, petting them. She actually liked the silly brown wizard, he seemed so upbeat about everything. The dwarves around her didn't seem to have the same idea. They murmured to each other about how peculiar he was. Some tried to strain their ears to hear what the two wizards were discussing. Alicia looked over to them as well. She saw the Brown wizard pull some large wrapped parcel from under his robes and passed it to Gandalf. By the shape, she guessed it to be a rod or sword, but couldn't see because Gandalf had turned aside.

Another quiet noise caught her attention. She snapped back around and peered into the forest. There was a branch snap that sounded too far for any of the dwarves to have made and she stood up rapidly, looking about and listening, hands twitching to the daggers again. Her sudden movement caught Nori's attention. He watched her curiously.

" What is it?" He asked. He was answered by a growl.

" Was that a wolf?" Bilbo asked nervously. Bofur gripped his mattock tighter.

" Wolf?" He said. " That was no wolf. That was a warg." He whirled around at the much louder and closer snarl behind him.

Out from the hill top, a large, mangy, wolf like creature stalked out. Quick as the blink of an eye, the creature pounced atop the unsuspecting Dori, who screamed as he was tackled to the ground.

Alicia wasted no time, and pounced on the warg's head. She buried one dagger into the warg's neck and the other into it's skull. The warg clawed at her side before finally slumping dead. She pulled the knives out with a hard yank, glaring at the beast the whole time. Her cameo shirt now had two rips in it on her left side, and she had two gashes that burned where the warg clawed her. She roughly pushed it off of the still Dori,who' s mouth hung aghast as he watched her. When she made eye contact, she quickly smoothened her features to a face devoid of emotion and quickly stepped away from him. She still remembered his last reaction to her and was still annoyed by him. Another warg jumped from the other side of the group. This one was shot down by Kili.

" Warg scouts!" Gandalf shouted in an unusually panicked voice. He whirled on Thorin, " Who did you tell about your quest?"

" No body."

" Who did you tell!?" Gandalf nearly shouted at him. For the wizard to be worried, Alicia knew they were in big trouble.

" No one I swear. Gandalf, what is going on?" Thorin asked in a voice hinting of worry as well.

" You are being hunted. Get on your ponies hurry!" The wizard said.

" We can't!" Shouted Gloin. " The damn beasts bolted at the sound of the warg howls!"

The hobbit began dancing from one foot to the next, " What do we do? We have to get out of here." He asked everyone.

" I'll draw them off." Radaghast said determinedly.

" These are gundabad wargs. You can't out run them." Gandalf reasoned.

" These are rhoscabell rabbits!" The brown wizard replied in a proud voice. " I'd like to see them try."

Alicia stared at the brown wizard, " You have bird poop, on the side of your face."

" Very well." Gandalf relented after blinking at Alicia. " Everyone else must keep together. We will use the rocks to hide behind."

As the hunting party closed in, Radaghast jumped back on his sleigh and took off. Immediately the wargs chased after.

" Hurry lass. Stay close to us." Bofur said as he ushered Alicia along. She said nothing as she grabbed her bag and they began to run out of the forest.

Once they were out and dashing from one rock to the next, she got a few good views at the hunting party. Ugly riders were on top of them, making Alicia wish she could ride one herself. It wasn't long before she was out of breath, leaning against the rock for support. Her legs burned with fatigue, fueling the fear growing inside her. Bofur looked back at her, laying a comforting hand on her when he saw her face. She looked up at him and smiled, banishing the fear until he looked away again.

Ori was grabbed by Thorin before he stepped out too far. " Where are you leading us?" He asked Gandalf, who ignored his question and kept going. One warg and rider stood on top of the rock they were hiding behind. Thorin nodded to Kili. With a deep breath, the archer stepped out and shot the warg down. The other dwarves made quick work of the rider.

At one point, Alicia relied more on her long legs and hopping like a deer in a desperate attempt to keep up and recover her energy at the same time. Dwalin fell back and grabbed hold of her hand, pulling her along. Now Alicia made more attempt just to stay balanced on her feet and let Dwalin pull her along until she recovered enough energy to run again. Her lungs burned and the two gashes on her side itched and burned.

A warg rider jumped out, causing the group to divide to avoid it's jaws or the rider's sword.

The warrior dwarf yanked her aside so hard that her hand slipped right out of her glove, but she kept up with him.

Until she saw Bifur and Bofur.

Bifur and Bofur were suddenly surrounded by wargs, literally trapped between a rock and a hard place.

Gloin led two others in a wedge formation to regroup with Thorin and the others.

Now although Alicia was not the fastest runner, she still had very good agility. The difference being, agility was the ability to react and maneuver around and obstacles. This skill she put to good use as she made her way to the cousins. She was so tired, it felt like she was running through water and couldn't get to them fast enough. Images of an old fight between her colony and some marauders came to her mind as she eyed the rock. She remembered One-eye Jerome jumping from a roof and onto the maruaders' tricked out pick up truck as they drove by. He made quick work of the marauders and claimed that truck as his own. It still stood in her colony whenever they needed it.

Inspired, she scrambled onto the rocks. She leveled herself with one of the warg riders, then jumped from the rock onto the wrag's back. She stabbed the grotesque rider and flung his body off. The warg either didn't notice or care, too focused on the cousins. Alicia pulled out her katana as the dwarves team tackled the other rider before another came. She kicked at the beast's flanks and it jolted forward, reluctantly pulling away from the dwarves to launch at another rider. The thing was angry at first for not getting to taste dwarf flesh, until Alicia miraculously cut down a surprised rider from the warg it rode. Alicia's warg stopped to tear into the orc for a moment. The survivor took this moment to reach back in a side pocket of her bag and pull out her ruger 9mm. She was reluctant to use it in a place that didn't seem to live by the technological advancements she had, so she tucked it under her pants until she really needed it. Looking at the riders, she guessed that they must be the orcs that Kili and Fili had mentioned to her earlier.

The warg howled in victory after it was finished, wanting more.

" Yah!" She shouted and spurred it towards more orcs. She spotted the dwarves and watched in awe at their battle again. Their battle cries exhilarated her as she played bumper cars with a few other riders, hacking at their faces when they were stunned by her sudden appearance. She felt a sharp sting on her shoulder that made her grunt. When she turned around, she saw an orc rider catching up to her. It was too close, she had to use her gun. She clamped her legs around the warg's flanks, pulled out her gun with her left hand and pulled the trigger. The orc jerked and fell off. She thought about shooting the warg too. Hell, if an arrow could pierce it's skull, a 9mm bullet at a range of ten yards should be able to! She took the shot and to her delight, the warg went down. She let out a laugh that sounded all too much like a madman's laugh and secured the gun back under the rim of her pants and belt. She didn't care as much anymore about her burning side and shoulder, the bugs smacking into her face, her achy legs, she was alive and free. Lonnie and Jeremy would be so jealous right now!

Another rider came perpendicular of her path, running for the company. Just as they were shouting their own battle cry, Alicia collided with them. Her warg had no trouble jumping the opposing warg. It took down the orc in a bone crunching crush between it's jaws. The opposing warg snapped at them and turned about, stole some meat from her warg and took off before hers could bite the other one away. Alicia barely caught Thorin's voice shouting for Kili somewhere behind the rocks, and she looked around for them. Panic bubbled up again, now she had no idea where her companions were or if they were trapped or not. She urged the warg to move again, sheathing her sword to get a better grip. Her arms felt like jello she was so tired, but she couldn't stop now.

They rode at a light trot, the warg growling for more as it swung it's massive head side to side. There was suddenly a loud horn blowing, making them both look up in the direction of the unknown sound. Without order, the warg lunged in the direction of the sound.

" Woah, stop! Heel!" She sputtered. In front of her she saw a line of horses and golden riders run towards them. She tried to turn the warg around, but it's bloodlust was too great. " Get outta the way!" She yelled and waved her hand frantically. The gold riders paid no heed if they even heard her and two of them rose up bows. She saw this and was about to swing off the wag, until two arrows imbedded themselves into the warg's skull, bringing them to a sliding halt. The girl held on until it stopped, and was pitched forward over its head. Exhausted, scared, and confused, she struggled just to pick herself up on hands and knees. She heard a horse stop, saw the feet of an approaching god rider and tried to get up.

" Be still, You are wounded. Let me help you." The gold rider said as he knelt by her, inspecting her wounds. She saw bright blue eyes, fair unblemished skin with an angular face.

" Can you stand my lady?" He said. Even his voice sounded clear and calm. He helped her up, half carrying her to his horse. She saw another rider come up, this one in maroon armor. He also seemed flawless with an intense stare and slanting eyebrows that intensified his gaze. Alicia could barely stand up, she nearly fell to the ground if she hadn't willed herself to stand, and the man beside her wasn't already holding her.

" Do not fear anymore child. You are safe. Elanor, take her to my healers immediately." The maroon rider announced as he rode off again to finish off any more orcs and wargs. The man took a good hold of her, then she suddenly felt a wrenching tear from her shoulder. Instinctively, she let out a feral growl of her own and whipped out of his grasp. The man held up his hands, one held an orc arrow. " Forgive me, I had to remove it from your shoulder. Please, we must get you aid."

It finally dawned on her that she had an arrow in her back this whole time, and she relaxed enough to allow him to guide her to the horse.

The man practically had to lift her up onto his horse, she was so spent. He hoisted himself behind her and they turned to leave.

" Hold on my lady. I will take you to safety." He said in her ears. He turned the horse around and they sped off in the direction he had originally came. Any remaining orcs that tried to reach them were cut down by the other gold riders. The rider behind her said something in an unfamiliar language as he pat the horse. The strong horse seemed to know where to go as he swung around down a narrow pathway hidden behind some rock. But then, Alicia's eyesight began to fade. At first, she thought it was because the sun was blocked for a moment, but her eyes never adjusted. They became more and more blurry till she could see nothing at all!

" I can't see anything." She mumbled to herself.

" Do not fear, my lady. I will guide you. The arrow must have been poisoned." The rider said.

" Poisoned!?" Alicia echoed.

She listened to the ground go from dirt to pavement under the horse's hooves as it came to a gentle stop. The man slid down and gently helped her down.

" Sister! Cirinel!" The man called as he held Alicia steady. " We are in dire need of your healing skills!"

He guided her gently as Alicia tried her best to stay calm. She heard two other voices that seemed to appear out of nowhere talking. They were both female.

" Oh maker, the poor child!"

" What's happened brother?"

" She was hit by an orc arrow, a poisoned one, she cannot see." The man behind her exclaimed.

She felt a soft hand on her forehead, " Do not worry, we will take care of you. All will be well." A soft honey sweet and nurturing voice spoke to her.

" Okay." Was all Alicia could think to say as they guided her patiently through corridors and to some room.

The man stayed behind, and the two women stayed with her. Alicia's arms were slung over their slender shoulders as they carried her to their infirmary.

Alicia was beginning to wheeze and the women worked frantically. They cleaned her arrow wound, side wound and any others which Alicia tried not to think about. Her face stung along with the other open wounds, and some of the salves that they used brought hot tears streaming down her face.

" Here," Cirinel said, placing a warm cup in her hands. " Drink this, it will numb the pain and help you sleep better."

The girl sniffed it. It smelled like a kind of tea. " My friends. They were up there and could be in danger still." She said as her voice cracked from the pain and tears.

" Do not fear. Our lord Elrond will have found them by now and guided them to safety as well." Cirinel replied. " Close your eyes please, so that I may wrap them with this cloth. It has an herbal paste on it that will bring down the swelling."

" I'm blind."

" Yes. It is a side effect from the poison. It will wear off once we've eradicated the poison." Another voice said, making Alicia feel instantly better.

Alicia did so and drank the tea given to her. They certainly weren't kidding about the numbing part, soon she couldn't feel her body. Then the voices around her began to quiet till she heard nothing more.

MEANWHILE

" Ske' vork Kazag ezh gwifded!" Bifur shouted to his cousin.

" Aye Bifur. I see them. We'll hold them off till the others find us." Bofur said determinedly. He looked over his shoulder to see the Ri brothers regroup, they saw the cousins and began battling their way to them. Dori swinging his flail with strategic skill, Nori slamming down orcs with his mace, and Ori in between them with his slingshot.

Bifur wildly attacked an orc that dared to come to close and Bofur swung his mattock at the warg, breaking it's jaw.

Bifur pointed behind Bofur with an expression of shock and fear.

Bofur turned about to see Alicia on top of the warg that was in front of him. " Lass!" He watched her dash off into the warg that Bifur was engaged with, ending the fight, then take off just as the Ri brothers reached them.

Bofur was shaken out of his stupor by Dori. " Quickly, Thorin's searching for us!"

" But-but.." Bofur stuttered as he was pulled along. Nori grabbed Bifur and pulled him along too.

The company regrouped easily enough, Thorin did a quick head count before guiding them to a larger rock. He turned this way and searching the plains. His eyes rested on Dwalin.

The gruff warrior made eye contact with him, his silence spoke volumes.

" We must keep moving." Thorin said, earning him looks of astonishment from some of the members.

" Where's Alicia?! We can't just leave her!" Balin asked breathlessly.

Bilbo stood behind him, face streaked with sweat and fear.

" We will look for her, keep moving." Thorin barked as he led his company behind Gandalf.

There was a loud popping sound somewhere behind them that made them all flinch. Most looked to the sky for any signs of thunder or anything to explain the foreign noise.

More warg riders turned a corner and came running towards them, teeth and blades brandished in the air. The dwarves, infuriated at the orcs, met the attackers with equal battle lust. They confused the warg where to bite first, Kili shot down the rider and Thorin finished off the warg. Bilbo stayed pressed against the rock wall, peering around for a safe escape route. He looked to Gandalf, who had a calculating look on his face.

" More are coming! Keep going!" The wizard instructed as he turned and fled toward a huge rock face.

Biblo, tired and as breathless as the rest, waited for the last dwarf to come. He was scooped up by Gloin and Oin before he fell behind. They would not make the same mistake twice. They curved around the rock in time to see another orc rider heading for them. But suddenly another rider crashed into the orc, buying the dwarves precious time for all to get around the rock.

" Alicia!" Bilbo whimpered when he saw her collide with the other orc. He certainly didn't miss her face either.

" Has she gone mad?!" Dwalin growled. " What if that beast notices it's not an orc on it's back?!"

" She has bought us time! Don't let her sacrifice be in vain!" Gandalf yelled back as he disappeared behind the rocks.

The other dwarves cought up to where they last seen him and looked all about.

" Where is the wizard?" Oin shouted

" He's abandoned us!" Dwalin yelled.

" Stand your ground!" Thorin ordered. One more warg and rider came stalking up." Shoot them Kili!

Kili didn't miss a second, he let fly an arrow that hit home. Even Ori tried to stop a warg with his slingshot, but the second warg only growled.

" This way you fools!" The grey wizard hollered from behind a rock. Thorin ran up, looking doubtfully at the drop Gandalf had revealed. " Everyone, down hurry!"

As commanded, the dwarves slid down the rocky tunnel two by two. Thorin turned about, calling for Kili. Then they both jumped down into the tunnel before any other enemy saw.

The company looked at each other and back up to the entrance, waiting for something to happen.

Kili looked nervously to his uncle, " Where's Alicia?"

" She's still up there." Fili answered in a sorrowful voice.

Thorin stared at the entrance, waiting and listening.

" She'll be hunted down." Kili said in a pleading tone. " We have to find her!" He looked to the wizard, who had an equal expression of hopeful fear. There was a sudden blaring of a horn.

" What was that?" Balin asked. " Friend or foe?" He was answered with the dead body of and orc tumbling down to their feet.

" Those were elves." The wizard answered. This earned a huge scowl from Thorin.

" I can't see where the pathway leads!" Dwalin called from the back of the path. " Do we follow it or not?"

" Follow it of course!" Bofur suggested. But when he saw the look of horror he got from Bilbo, he immediately regretted saying it, and hung his head.

Bilbo turned to Gandalf and Thorin, " Are you really just going to leave her up there with those monsters?"

Thorin rubbed his forehead, " We cannot know for certain if she's still up there, or if we can get to her in time before one us is also injured. She had an arrow in her back. It could have been poisoned."

The hobbit couldn't believe what he was hearing! Yet he couldn't argue the sense that the king was making. His face and shoulders dropped, defeated.

" Look, I know you didn't like her, but you can't deny the fact that despite everything, she gave it her all for all of you. And now she could very well have made the biggest sacrifice for us. Acknowledge that at least." The hobbit begged before turning away.

Gandalf rested a hand on the poor hobbit's shoulder, " My dear Bilbo. The elves are skilled at tracking and fighting wargs. If she is up there, they will find her." Bilbo had only a sad smile to reply with.

The dwarves, though no one else was mortally injured, were silent as they walked. Bofur tried to brighten the mood by whistling a dwarfish victory tune. He gained a few thin smiles.

Dwalin glanced down at the glove sticking out of his pocket.

Balin fell in line with Bilbo, " She's a good lassie; strong, brave, protective, everything that made a good traveling companion great; resourceful too. I wouldn't give up on her just yet." The hobbit nodded appreciatively to the kind old dwarf.

About a thirty minute walk, they came to an opening. Bilbo stared out in awe at the beautiful sight that ley before him, and smiled.

" Rivendell. Home of Lord Elrond of the high elves." Gandalf announced. Though, only Bilbo shared the same happiness as him. The dwarves looked on with scowls and sullen faces.

" You bring us to our enemies?" Thorin growled at the grey wizard.

" You have no enemies here master dwarf. The only enemies you may find here are the ones you make yourself. With a little charm and manners, we can get the aid we require." Gandalf led them down the path towards the city.

The dwarves followed reluctantly across the bridge, huddled close and grumbling.

An elf was there to greet them across the bridge, which all the dwarves scowled at.

" Good to see you." The wizard greeted, " I must speak with your lord."

" My lord Elrond is not here at the moment." The elf responded.

" Not here? Where is he?"

Horse hooves and neighs answered his question. They looked back over the bridge and saw a team of riders fast approaching. Bilbo was pulled in the middle by Bofur as they all closed ranks, glaring at the riders that now encircled them. One rider with maroon armor slid gracefully off his horse.

" Gandalf the Grey, it is a pleasure to see you again." He greeted.

" Ah Lord Elrond, the pleasure is all mine."

" Strange to find so many orcs so close to our borders." Lord Elrond stated as he glanced down at the dwarves. " Thorin, son of Thrain. Your father spoke highly of you." The elf lord smiled and greeted the dwarf king.

Thorin showed no sign of friendliness towards the elf. " Indeed. Though, he made no mention of you."

If the elf lord was offended, he did not show it. He turned to Gandalf and spoke elvish to him.

" Whaaaaat is he saying?!" Gloin pushed his way to the front, brandishing his fists with a mighty glare.

" Does he offer us insult?!"

Gandalf sighed, " No master Gloin he is offering you food and rest."

" Food?" Gloin squeaked. He turned to the company and for a short muttering and turned back, " In that case, lead on."

As offered, the company was led to an open dining hall with a large table. Servants came with various vegetarian dishes out and laid them in front of the dwarves.

Bilbo was hesitant at first, torn between stuffing his face or asking if they found a young woman. Considering the fact that Gandalf, Thorin, and Lord Elrond were sitting at a private table, he decided to be a little more patient and preoccupy his mind by eating.

All except for Bifur and Bombur eyed their food with suspicion. He found Oin's reaction to the food and music to be both comical and insulting. Despite it all, they picked at their food here and there just to get something in their bellies. After dinner, they were escorted to a peaceful lounge area in which they could sleep. The company rushed in claiming their favored spots before someone else could get it. Bilbo found a nice cushion that seemed his size and collapsed onto it.

Balin settled down in a shady spot with a piece of seed cake he brought with him. Dwalin stretched out his sore muscles then went to work cleaning his weapons. Oin shared his salves to anyone who needed it, making a note to restock before leaving. Gloin just fell right to sleep along with Bombur, Fili and Kili.

He saw Bofur try to light a candle with that device given to him by Alicia. Bilbo imagined that at this point, someone would have to kill him if they wanted to take it from him. Bifur finished another carving, tucked it away then curled into bed. Dori sat near Ori sipping at his wine. He leaned over to see what Ori was working on.

" What's that?" He asked quietly.

Ori looked up at him and held his journal out. Dori patted his youngest brother as Ori went back to finishing his work.

Thanks to pure exhaustion, Bilbo drifted right to sleep.

The next morning was filled with the happy chirps of birds and forest animals. The hobbit awoke to the smell of breakfast cooking. He stretched and looked around. Half the other dwarves were awake too, helping prepare breakfast.

" Good morning Bilbo." Balin greeted as he passed by.

" Good morning to you Balin." The hobbit got up to stretch the knots out of his muscles. He smoothened out the wrinkles in his clothes and shuffled about. " Where did the meat come from?"

Balin chuckled as he answered, " Bombur woke up early and decided to have a little talk with the elves about the diet of a dwarf. I don't know how but he managed to get fresh meat coming this morning."

Bilbo wasn't going to complain either.

He sat down at the table, inhaling the delicious smells.

" Ah, Bombur that smells heavenly!" Bofur chimed in as he strode into the dining room. " Good morning Bilbo!" He shook Bilbo's chair before going to wash his face. He seemed to be in a good mood today, though when is Bofur ever in a bad mood?

His loud greeting heralded the rest of the company in the dinning room, and soon, as before in his home, utensils were being tossed everywhere. Bombur cooked a feast fitting for a king and the dwarves ate heartily. The hobbit was not immune to their jolliness for long.

Thorin did join them, keeping his thoughts to himself mostly. After they were finished, he allowed for his company to rest before restocking their supplies.

Dwalin got more oil and a new leather pouch for his weapons. Nori took whatever he could get his thieving fingers on. Dori restocked on teas and sewing supplies. Ori got a new journal and ink. Bombur started on dehydrating and salting food for the road. Bifur got a new roll up pouch for his carving tools and new boots. Gloin got a resupply for fire starting and Oin restocked on medicinal supplies. Bofur didn't have much to restock on, nor did Balin. Fili got his weapons re-sharpened and polished while Kili restocked on arrows and a bow string.

After everyone was finished, Thorin ordered quick training drills for combating larger opponents. Bilbo did what he could, not really able to reach high, for he was even shorter than a dwarf after all. Everything he was told to do was done half-heartedly, but enough to show that he at least was putting forth an effort.

Lunch time came around, and as before, they crowded into the kitchen. As they did, they stripped off the outer layers of their clothing that was drenched in sweat. They threw the clothes in a messy pile on the floor of the hallway. Bilbo of course did not mimic this action, he even waited patiently till most of the dwarves finished eating before sitting down for his meal.

"Hey! That's ours elf!" Kili shouted from the hall.

An elf servant looked at him confused, a pile of dwarf clothes in his hands, " I'm sorry master dwarf. I thought these were hear because you wanted them washed."

" We can wash our own clothes." Kili growled back.

Bilbo stepped between them. " You could use some more time to cool off from the drills, and fresh clothes would do us all good. I'll keep an eye on them if you'd like." He reasoned with the young archer.

Kili huffed, but did not say anything more, just glared at the elf until he finally picked up all the clothes and left out of sight. " If one thing is missing, I will have me a new target for my arrows."

Lord Elrond and Gandalf came by for a visit. They watched with amused grins at the dwarves still tossing things around even when they were finished eating. Lord Elrond was quick enough to grab a roll flying his way and ate it contentedly. Thorin certainly didn't like the fact that now his company was amusing an elf.

" Is there something you need ?" The dwarf king asked impatiently.

Gandalf rolled his eyes, " Of course not. Why would our host come to check on the well-being of his guests? Why the very notion!"

" All is well thank you." Thorin answered.

" If there is anything else you require, my assistants will be happy to help." The elf lord added before excusing himself again to talk to another elf healer. " Cirinel, how is everything?"

When he left, Gandalf fixed Thorin with a stern look.

" Elves." Thorin muttered and turned on his heel.

" Dwarves." Gandalf muttered.

Dori came up to him with a bright smile. " Glass of red wine master Gandalf? We still have some freshly cooked rolls, bacon and hams, if that sounds tempting?"

" Yes." The wizard said and sat down with the dwarves.

Bilbo was glad to see the wizard, " Gandalf. I don't mean to ruin your morning by asking this but, have you inquired about Alicia?"

Gandalf startled at Bilbo's question, as if he just remembered something. "Who? Ah, yes. I'm sure she's fine. After all, she's always been a little odd." He turned back to his bacon to munch on it. The hobbit wasn't sure how to react to that weird answer. He stared at him blankly.

Gandalf looked at him again and this time scowled. " Why don't you just ask Lord Elrond yourself and see if he can help you understand!"

Bilbo felt a bit put off. He slid off his chair and gingerly approached the elf lord and healer. He waited patiently for a turn to speak.

" Some of the strangest mutterings I have ever heard when sleeping. Things like, 'The horde is coming', 'Watch the tanker', 'I've got this'. And she tosses and turns like so much! The poor girl must have restless nights often." The healer said as Bilbo approached, piquing his interest.

Lord Elrond nodded, " I see. That does sound like a case of immense physical and mental stress. But it is good that the poison is gone." The elf lord turned to smile at Bilbo. " What can I do for you master Baggins?"

" I'm sorry to interrupt, but we lost a friend yesterday after the warg attack. A young lady."

" Ah yes. She has been asking about the welfare of her friends. Miss Alicia I assume that is who you speak of?"

Bilbo's eyes bulged and lit up at the mention of her name, " Yes! Yes, that's her! You've found her! May I see her?"

Ori, Dwalin, and Bombur peered over at the hobbit when they heard his excited voice.

" Of course, Lady Cirinel can guide you to her room." Lord Elrond answered.

Cirinel smiled happily, " Right this way. I was just getting some breakfast for her." She walked to another section of the kitchen, the dwarves watching her suspiciously. She paid them no heed after a polite greeting and collected a serving tray with a tall cup of tea and a bowl of stew with rolls.

" What's she doing here?" Grumbled Gloin.

Bilbo rolled his eyes, " Making lunch for Alicia, if that isn't bothering you too much." He didn't mean to let that slip, but it did. He quickly followed the elf maiden out of the kitchen.

There was a silent moment before Bofur hopped up, " She's here! Alive!"

Now Cirinel was accompanied by Bilbo, Bofur, and Balin. Half way there another elf lady joined them hold a basket of fresh medical supplies.

" How is she?" Bilbo asked.

" She needs much rest and good nutrition. Her physical injuries have already begun to heal well." Cirinel answered confidently.

Bilbo's shoulders dropped from relief.

" I told you laddie." Balin mused behind him.

Then Bilbo looked back up to her, " 'Physical injuries'? What else is wrong with her?"

At this question, the elf did not answer immediately, " She tends to mutter about strange things in her sleep, and because of her eyes, it takes a moment before she realizes she's awake. Her moods are sporadic, but not really violent at least."

" What's happened to her eyes?" Bofur asked.

" It's a side-effect from the poison."

" Poison?" Bilbo echoed.

" There was an orc arrow in her shoulder, it was dipped in poison. Not to worry, as she heals, her sight will return." The second elf, Merinah, assured.

Merinah stepped forward to knock and open the door. As she stepped inside, she gasped and dropped the basket into the nearby chair and ran forward.

When the hobbit stepped inside as well, he finally saw what made the elf alarmed. Lying, in an odd pose like she fell from a great height, was Alicia. She wore nothing but a plain short sleeve shirt and pants that only went to her knees.

" Lassie?!" Balin hustled to her side, gently rolling her over on her back. His fearful face increased when he saw her wounds. Bofur came and gently brushed the hair out of her face.

The girl's eyes had been wrapped, her face was dotted with perspiration, and her breathing was ragged.

" She's burning up." Bofur whimpered.

Balin motioned for him to help lift her. As they wrapped their arms around her, she began to moan. She swatted at the air, occasionally hitting the dwarves, " Ya won't catch me choker." She growled.

" Quick get the drought ready." Cirinel ordered Merinah, who moved the trash can aside and did as told.

" Calm down Alicia." Bilbo untangled the sheets from Alicia's legs, and the dwarves carried her swiftly to the bed.

" Who is she calling the choker?" Bofur questioned as he held her hands until she finally went limp.

" I don't know. As I mentioned before, she says strange things when she sleeps." Merinah sat by Alicia's head with a small cup and tilted her back slightly.

Balin grabbed her wrist, " What are you giving her?"

" It's a sleep aid, to calm her down as she rests."

" We are here to help master dwarf. Now please." Cirinel said with a hint of irritation.

With one last wary look, the old dwarf let go. The elf carefully fed the girl the serum, which did calm her down.

" She still has a fever, which is good. Her body is fighting and winning against infection or residual poisons." Merinah observed.

The five watched the sleeping form for a moment. Bilbo's scrutinizing gaze went down her body. On one side of her face, a large patch covered her cheek. Judging by the bandages sticking out from under her shirt, her right shoulder was wrapped, so were her ribs. Her left leg and ankle was also wrapped.

" We will feed her when she has woken up fully from her fitful slumber." Cirinel planned. The two elves began to prepare the fresh bandages and salves.

" She was dry heaving a moment ago." Merinah said, gesturing to the trash can.

Bofur looked down at her, sorrow in his eyes as he held one hand and stroked her head with the other.

" She saved mine and Bifur's life back there."

" Aye. Saved all our lives, she might've." Balin agreed.

The three were asked to leave a moment while the healers changed the bandages.

Just outside the door, they waited.

Balin turned to Bilbo, a look of sincerity on his face." Would you know anything about what the lass talks about?"

The hobbit shrugged. " My best guess is it's something to do with her home, before coming to the shire. She never talked much about it."

" You are correct in your guess Master Baggins." Gandalf appeared around the corner. Behind him walked, Bifur, Ori, and Bombur.

" I wouldn't blame her for keeping them secret at all."

" What?" Bilbo stammered. " What does she talk about?"

The old wizard stroked his beard as Bofur told the others of Alicia's condition. " The names that she calls out are names of certain monsters that plague her homeland. I talked to her this morning. She told me of an infection of undead or, zombies, terrorizing the people and eating anything that's alive and has meat." All eyes except Bilbo's were bulging at Gandalf as he spoke.

" The Tanker is a massive ten foot human like monster that roars angrily, throwing and smashing everything in it's path. The Tackler is a typical woman sized zombie with hands and shoulders that charge at people, grabbing them and bashing their victims into the ground. The choker is a gangly zombie that has extra tentacles coming from it's back. It likes to ambush unsuspecting victims, ensnaring them and squeezing the life out like a snake. There is the jumper, that runs on all fours and pounces on it's victims like a lion, the banshee that screams like an outraged woman with long claws that tear into the victim. Her mournful moans tell you that one is near, and the horde. The horde consists of any other typical zombie with no particular skill. They are the dead people, walking, dragging, limping and moaning from place to place, searching for their next meal with an unnatural, insatiable hunger."

Mouths hung agape, breaths were quiet or held as the wizard told his horrific news.

Ori shuddered. " That's horrible."

" And you would never have guessed anyone so sweet would come from such a dark place." Balin concluded. Bilbo was as silent as a statue, face pale.

The door was reopened and Cirinel said they could come back if they chose, and they did.

Bombur tilted his head, " After Smaug took Erebor, we had to live like that at times. Wandering from place to place, fighting away people or orcs that would do us harm."

Bifur and Ori looked at each other, then stepped to her nightstand. Ori placed a dark purple scarf with matching arm warmers he made on the nightstand, and Bifur put one of his carvings on it.

Alicia didn't stir anymore.

They quietly left the room again to rejoin the others.

Dwalin looked up," You lot look like you've seen a ghost. Is she okay or not?"

Balin gave a sad smile, " She is fine brother. She's suffered quite a few injuries but making a fast recovery."

Nori scanned the others' faces, " Then why do you still look like that?"

Looking around, Bofur brightened up, " The lass is a bit down for weather ye see. I think Bifur and Ori has the right idea! She just needs some cheering up is all."

Balin's kind smile returned to his face, "That sounds like a good idea."


	8. Chapter 8 - Get Well Soon

** I know I know, I took a while, so sorry. The problem with this one is I have no idea what I really wanted to happen as much. Geez I hope I didn't screw things up for my readers! I will still appreciate reviews of course, and thank you for reading and reviewing my work (0_o)**

The hobbit watched the dwarves as they shared ideas that they think Alicia would like. He was also thankful that they avoided repeating Alicia's origin. He noticed Thorin still kept to himself, neither getting involved nor stopping them. This he took as a good sign. He walked with Gandalf as they exited until he found the library. In there he spent the next hours, reading books and maps that caught his interest.

Merinah found him sitting in a lazy chair, " Master Bilbo. Please excuse my interruption. Alicia is awake and about to eat dinner. I thought you would wish to speak with her."

Bilbo hopped out of his chair, forgetting to put back his book and hurried as fast as he could to Alicia's room with the elf lady right beside him.

There sat Alicia, leaning back on her pillows, a small smile tugging at her lips as Cirinel talked to her about how her brother fell in the river after falling off his horse one day.

Bilbo scurried by her side, " Alicia! My dear I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you awake."

" Bilbo?" Alicia turned in his general direction with a large smile. " It's good to hear yer doing well too!"

They squeezed each other's hand. " You've given us quite a scare. How are you feeling?

" Us?" Alicia repeated stupidly.

" Why yes, I and the rest of the company of course. Did you think we've forgotten about you?"

" Well, not 'forget' exactly.." She trailed off with a sheepish smile.

" I see. Well, the others do care about you too." Bilbo said with a knowing smile.

He laughed at Alicia's attempts at trying to feed herself.

" You're doing well feeding yourself with no eyes." Cirinel laughed as she cleaned a little spill at the side of her mouth.

" Last I remember, the mouth is under the nose." Alicia answered.

" How much longer will she need to wear that bandage over her eyes by the way?" The hobbit asked.

" Just until the swelling goes down and her eyesight returns. The bandage has a salve on it that helps with that. Stop stuffing your face dear, no one is going to take your dinner from you!" The elf healer chastised.

" Oh mah gosh I'm sooory. I don't know what I look like when I'm eating." Alicia answered dramatically.

" You look like you're trying to scarf down your food before you're late for something. And you've got the juice running down your chin!" The elf ranted back.

" Close your eyes then." Alicia play grumped as she felt for napkin." Where's my napkin?"

Bilbo placed a clean one in her open hands, happy to see his friend in a better mood. He even laughed at her clumsiness when she pulled her hand back so fast, she ended up hitting herself in the face instead of whipping it clean.

" Look at you!" Cirinel laughed heartily, " You can't even clean your face correctly."

" Don't judge me, you don't know me, you don't know my life." Alicia mumbled rapidly, earning more light chuckles. Once she finished her food, Bilbo reached for Bifur and Ori's gifts.

" I'm not sure if you already know, but Bifur and Ori left something here for you." He pressed the wood carving in her hands.

Alicia's fingers felt every detail of the carving, rolling it in her hands as the hobbit and elf watched her guess-timate. " Bifur made this? It's got a lot of detail." She said. " It feels like a woman.. I don't think I can guess who the woman is…"

" It is you. I remember you showing him your journal some time ago, and it had a picture of him. So I think he decided to make a carving of you." Bilbo explained.

" Aww…" The survivor squeaked. " That's so cool and thoughtful. I love it! How do you say thank you in dwarvish?"

" I haven't the slightest clue, but I can ask. Here's something from Ori." Bilbo pressed Ori's knitted garments in her hands next.

" I love scarves! And…..arm warmers? I love these things too! He made these?! Man we got some talented people in this company." Alicia tried on the scarf and arm warmers. " What colors are they?"

" A dark purple."

" Love these gifts. They're as amazing as the people who made them. Can you tell them thank you for me Bilbo?" She hugged her gifts close.

" Of course I will. I do believe they were headed for dinner as well when I saw them on my way from the library."

Cirinel placed a warm cup of tea in Alicia's hands. " Your favorite tea is ready. Master hobbit would you care for some too?"

Bilbo agreed. " Yes thank you."

" The library? What were you reading about?" Alicia asked as she sipped her tea.

" Oh! Silly me, I've run off with one of their books!" He reached for the library book that he dropped on the nightstand. " Well, this one's about a lover's revenge actually. After losing his love, the elf Leiusilon sought revenge for his lover's murder; he then locked himself away, never to love again. Until a human maiden shows him that there are things still good and worth loving in the world." He watched Alicia's eyebrows raised with interest. " Would you like to hear it?"

" If it's not holding you up from anything, I would love to hear it. But have you eaten yet?" Alicia asked.

" I'm not hungry just yet, dear, perhaps after I've finished this lovely story." Bilbo answered. Then he opened the book and began to read. Cirinel stuck around to hear Bilbo read as well.

After the story, Bilbo and Cirinel bade goodnight and left, heading back to their own quarters. Bilbo made sure to return the books he found back where they belonged on his way.

" Good to see you Mr. Baggins." Balin greeted him. " Where did you run off to?"

" Alicia was awake. I went to visit her till she fell asleep again?" He answered. The story made him sleepy as well, and he yawned as he fixed himself a plate.

"Awake? How is she?" Bombur asked as he served Bilbo a drink.

" She is recovering. Still can't use her eyes yet, but her other wounds are healing well." The hobbit answered. He smiled to Ori, " I showed her your gifts. She said they are as amazing as the person who crafted them and wanted me to give you her deepest gratitude."

The young artist blushed, " I'm glad that she likes them."

" And to Bifur too. She thought your carving of her was a masterpiece."

The odd dwarf had celery sticking out of his mouth. They crunched as he grinned happily." Thrifh hiz den vok khezden."

" He thought it a good idea." Bombur translated. " Do you happen to know what she favors for breakfast?"

" Well, she likes blueberry pancakes with lots of bacon and sausages, turkey or fish are her favorite meats, with a large glass of milk. But she isn't all that picky, except when it comes to eggs. She doesn't like eggs too much." Bilbo answered. Judging by Bombur's look, he guessed the dwarf might be planning something of his own.

Gandalf came by, saying he needed to borrow him, Thorin and Balin for a while to speak with Lord Elrond.

Reluctantly, Bilbo got up to follow. He really just wanted to sleep.

He spared a look back over his shoulder and saw that the rest of the company was happily chatting and seemingly in deep thought about one thing or another.

" mmmm." Alicia groaned. Although she couldn't see, she could sense that it was early in the morning, too early. Her eyes were still blurry and could barely make out which wall or chair was what. After a painstakingly long time feeling around, her ankle starting to throb, she gave up and fell on all fours and crawled her way to the bathroom. She felt like someone who was trying to find a tiny bead or lost contact lens as she felt the floor. She couldn't begin to describe how happy she was to finally find the toilet. Her grumpiness returned when she realized that she's going to have to do the same thing again. She gingerly felt for the water basin and washed her face, couldn't find the towel so she didn't bother drying it. Her hand hit some bar, she backed into some shelf and nearly tripped over into the tub. She did find a cup which she used to rinse her mouth. " Stupid counter. Stupid no towel, stupid shelf, stupid tub." She grumbled as she felt her way to the door. She pushed it open and sighed. She crawled again, reaching every which way, going sideways. " Stupid can't see. Stupid chair, stupid cold ass floor. "

As she reached the bed, she heard two snickers, then finally an outburst of laughter like clear bells.

She didn't laugh immediately till she understood the tone of laughter was not a mocking one, but friendly and she smiled too. " Dontchu' laugh Merniah, Cirinel! This is NOT funny!"

" I'm so sorry, pray forgive me!" Merinah sobered. " Cirinel heard you in the washroom and told me to be quiet, and when we saw you crawl out in such a way…"

" I couldn't help it!" Cirinel defended. " I've not had much contact with humans and certainly not such unique ones as yourself!"

" Listen to her, trying to flatter. At least you're being honest." Alicia joked.

" I am." Cirinel helped Alicia into the bed. " I've truly never met a human who tries to resolve their predicaments in such creative ways as yourself. I can't find my friends, let me chase after them on a hungry warg. I can't see the washroom, I should crawl around on the floor till I find it.."

" I hate everything." Alicia replied.

" I'm only joking dear." Cirinel apologized.

" I know I was joking too." Alicia waited a moment. " What's for breakfast?"

" Oh, we didn't bring any this time." Merinah said apologetically.

" What?" Alicia said in a horrified voice. Breakfast was her favorite meal of the day. The elves giggled at her over exaggerated fearful face.

" Someone else is. They should be here shortly. You can go back to sleep and we'll wake you when they come if you'd like." Merinah offered.

Unfortunately, Alicia was wide awake now." May I have some water please?"

A cup was placed into Alicia' s hands and she downed it all.

" So who else is making breakfast? If I may be so bold as to ask?"

" I, never asked for his name. All I know is it's a friend." Cirinel answered cryptically.

" Oh, that cleared it up completely." Alicia replied with a hint of sarcasm.

The lovely elf ladies went on chattering about and rechecking Alicia's bandages for a while until there was a knock at the door.

Elves moved so silently, Alicia couldn't hear any footsteps until the door opened and there was a heavy almost stomping sound approach. It sounded like two of them.

" Good morning my ladies." greeted a familiar, friendly and cheery voice.

" Bombur?"

" Yes, it's me. I took the liberty of making you breakfast today. These elves don't know much about making a proper protein enriched dish, no offense ladies." The jolly dwarf said as he came closer. Alicia could sense his presence. She heard another voice, a hearty chuckle that went to the other side of her bed.

" I hope ya slept well." Bofur chimed in.

Alicia smiled at how Bombur didn't express the same distaste towards the elves. Some delicious smells wafted to her, she inadvertently leaned towards the smell and breathed in deeply.

Bombur laughed as she leaned towards him. " Hungry lass? Well, I can fix that." He gently sat her straight and placed a tray of food on her lap.

" Betcha can't guess what it is!" Bofur laughed. The elves watched bemused.

The girl scrunched up her face, took another deep sniff as she leaned forward. " Bacon? I LOVE BACON!" She said in a funny voice. Her hand went straight for the plate, but her fingers fell onto something soft.

" Oh, that wasn't the bacon." Licking her fingers as the room was filled with giggles, she tasted pancake with syrup. " Found the pancakes though!" Before she dipped her hands in the food again, they were grabbed.

" If you don't mind, why don't we just help you with that lass?" Bofur said between his chuckles.

" My brother here made blueberry pancakes with turkey bacon, sausages and warm biscuits for ye. We thought you might like it."

" Aaww. Bombur, that's so kind of you!" Slowly she raised her arm to him. Finding his shoulder, she pulled him close and hugged his neck tightly. " Thank you so much. Whad' I do to deserve that honor?"

" Oh nothing too special." The pompous dwarf responded, " Just save my brother and cousin's life. A simple breakfast isn't enough to show my gratitude by far."

She heard the soft sound of utensils clanking with the plate, indicating that someone, probably Bofur, was cutting up her breakfast.

" Well then Miss _Rhathel_, it looks like we're no longer needed at the moment," Cirinel said, " We shall come by to check on you later perhaps?"

" Thank you. What did you just say?" Alicia asked.

" Rhathel. It means wild sister." Merinah answered before they bade farewell and left.

Alicia smirked at that.

Bofur huffed, " So the elves have given ya a pet name?"

" Not sure. But I suppose it sounds fitting." Alicia said hesitantly, not wanting to offend her dwarven friends.

Bofur pulled up a chair and made himself more comfortable by Alicia's bed." Here lass, turkey bacon." He said. Alicia misunderstood his intent though, and started feeling around the plate, two fingers dipping into the syrup, the other hand finding the biscuit. " No no, I'll give it to you."

" Oooh." She whispered. She allowed the dwarf to gently turn her face his way and feed her a bite.

" Oh mh grrsh." Alicia said with a mouthful of bacon, syrupy pancake, and something that seemed quite similar to hash browns. " Bombur, this breakfast is amazing."

"You like it?"

" Heaven hath no better dish."

The brothers smiled was so big, Alicia didn't need to see, she could feel the pride and joy radiating from them.

" I'm just happy it is to your liking." Bombur chortled.

" Here's another." Bofur said, doing the same as before.

Something like this wasn't uncommon with her. Back in her home colony, her remaining friends became so close knit that feeding each other, leaning on each other or fixing hair was not uncomfortable for her, she realized that this was not her colony. Before taking the next bite, she pulled away. " Bofur, not that I don't appreciate this, but… if this is uncomfortable to you, you don't have to feed me."

" Hmm, perhaps if it was someone I only just met, and didn't save me from wargs, or give me wonderful inventions, it might have been a mite different." Bofur's voice tickled her ear. She hadn't realized how close he was. She thought he was diagonal from her. " But it's not like that. I am happy to do it. That is if you want me too." He said quickly. " I don't want to impose."

" You truly don't mind? Honestly for really reals? I'm used to it with my friends at the colony." Alicia said.

" I truly don't mind, for _really reals_." Bofur answered kindly.

" Besides, this way you won't have to worry about half the food falling away before you get to eat it." Bombur added. Alicia didn't see his glare at Bombur when his brother smirked teasingly at him.

Alicia made a giddy smile. " I'm ready for the next bite now, and thank you."

As Bombur and Bofur entertained her with stories of their own silly goofs and adventures; of how they had to do the same thing the first whole year after Bifur got the axe in his head, she thought about what Thorin had said and what he would say if he saw them now. She was honestly thankful of their surprising selflessness. Such wonderful, fun, loving company would be hard to say goodbye to if it ever came to that. For now though, she will enjoy the extra catering she was getting. Bofur played his flute after words and sang a happy little tune to her. He began to play a tune that sound familiar and she mentioned it.

" Does it?" Bofur asked. " Care to share it with us?"

" I'm no singer!" Alicia argued.

" Well neither are we, but we do it for fun." Bombur added. " Go on and try."

The girl relented, " Okay, but Don't say I didn't warn you."

Bombur found a drum and when he found the rhythm, he played happily as she sang.

_When life leaves you high and dry_

_ I'll be at your door tonight_

_ If you need help, if you need help_

_ I'll shut down the city lights,_

_ I'll lie, cheat, I'll beg and bribe_

_ To make you well, to make you well_

_When enemies are at your door_

_ I'll carry you away from war_

_ If you need help, if you need help_

_ Your hope dangling by a string_

_ I'll share in your suffering_

_ To make you well, to make you well_

_Give me reasons to believe_

_ That you would do the same for me_

_And I would do it for you, for you_

_ Baby, I'm not moving on_

_ I love you long after you're gone._

_ For you, for you._

_ You would never sleep alone_

_ I love you long after you're gone_

_ And long after you're gone, gone, gone._

_When you fall like a statue_

_ I'm gon' be there to catch you_

_ Put you on your feet, you on your feet_

_ And if your well is empty_

_ Not a thing will prevent me_

_ Tell me what you need, what do you need_

_I surrender honestly_

_ You've always done the same for me_

_So I would do it for you, for you._

_ Baby, I'm not moving on_

_ I love you long after you're gone._

_ For you, for you._

_ You would never sleep alone._

_ I love you long after you're gone_

_ And long after you're gone gone gone._

_You're my back bone,_

_ You're my cornerstone_

_ You're my crutch when my legs stop moving_

_ You're my head start,_

_ You're my rugged heart_

_ You're the pulse that I've always needed_

_ Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating_

_ Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating_

_ Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating_

_ Like a drum my heart never stops beating_

_For you, for you_

_ Baby I'm not moving on_

_ I love you long after you're gone._

_ For you, for you._

_ You would never sleep alone_

_ I love you long after you're gone._

_ For you, for you._

_ Baby I'm not moving on,_

_ I love you long after you're gone._

_ For you, for you._

_ You would never sleep alone._

_ I love you long, long after you're gone._

_Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating_

_ Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating_

_ Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating_

_ Like a drum my heart never stops beating for you_

_And long after you're gone, gone, gone._

_ I love you long after you're gone gone, gone._

_( Phillip Phillips)_

Near the end of the song, she heard many more foot stamps and claps, chiming in with her song. Then there was an applaud after she finished. Her brows rose at the extra noise.

" Alicia, that was a wonderful song, and ya didn't sound that bad." Bofur squeezed her hand. " You've even drawn a little crowd."

" Did I now, that's embarrassing… Who all is here?" Alicia muttered. She heard the familiar bell like laughter of her elf friends.

" If I knew you could sing such lovely songs, I would have asked you to teach them to me!" Cirinel said.

" I hope you don't mind, when we heard the music, we came back to listen." Merinah said apologetically.

All the survivor could do was smile and say a humble thank you. Cirinel and Merinah bade their farewells once again, saying they might come back to hear more music if there's any again.

" You're already looking much better than yesterday." Said Bilbo, who must've came in for the same reason.

" Ah, our young brothers Fili and Kili are here too." Bofur pointed out for her.

" Good morning Alicia." Fili greeted.

" How did you sleep?" Kili asked.

" Good, restful thank you. And ya'll? Restful too I hope."

" As restful as it can be for a dwarf in an elf home." Fili answered. " We just came by to check on you. Unfortunately we can't stay too long, less uncle should get suspicious."

Alicia knew exactly what he meant and she nodded her understanding. " How is he?"

" He suffered few injuries from the warg scouts." Kili said as he examined some of the room's furnishing.

" But his mood hasn't improved much, being surrounded by elves and all."

" If I may be so bold, do all elves and dwarves hate each other?" Alicia asked sheepishly.

" Maybe not all, but most." Kili answered. " Especially dwarves from Erebor like us."

" Why's that?"

" Technically, the tension between us two goes back much farther than Erebor." Bofur said.

" Yes, but more specifically, we don't like the elves because of how they abandoned us during our time of need." Kili said.

" What time of need?" Alicia asked. She could feel the tension suddenly rise.

" When the dwarves of Erebor fled their homes, just as they left, they saw an army of elves that belonged to king Thranduil. Uncle called them for help, but instead the king turned his back on us and went home." Fili said darkly.

" Is that king here?"

" No."

" Was Lord Elrond there during the attack?"

" No."

" If you don't mind me saying, why hate him if he wasn't involved?" Alicia asked in a tone that was both respectful but serious. She could hear feet shuffling.

" Because they are elves too." Kili finally answered. " They are prone to making the same choice as the rest of them."

The girl shrugged her shoulders and grimaced. " Everyone's prone to making the same mistakes as everyone else. For example, Radaghast the brown had a sleigh of_ rabbits_ and a tendency to be slightly scatter-brained. Should I assume Gandalf's gonna start spittin' bugs an' not care about… _bird paint_ on his face?"

The four dwarves lightly snickered at that image. " I suppose not." Fili said, but in a more serious tone,

"But we are not speaking of two wizards, who are always more unpredictable than the last in the first place. We speak of at least half the population of elves turning their backs on at least half the population of dwarves. They could have helped us, at least to escape."

" What about the elves here then? They're helping us now." Alicia pressed.

" Perhaps only because Gandalf is with us." Fili growled back. " Elrond may not have been there but he is still an ally of Thranduil no doubt. They can still betray us, and you shouldn't be so trusting to someone who has already left you to die once."

Alicia thought about what he said, deciding that there were good points on both sides, and just let it be.

Her face remained expressionless, ( Not that they could see her eyes, they were still wrapped.)

" We must get back to Uncle now." Kili said in the same dark tone as they left the room.

" I didn't mean to argue." Alicia grumped. " I was just trying to understand."

Bofur patted her hand. " It's alright. Don't ye mind them. You know they have good reasons to be angry."

Alicia shrugged nonchalantly, not wanting them to see how hurt she felt inside. " I get angry too."

" Of course dear, it happens to the best of us." Bilbo chirped. " Bofur is right however, you needn't worry. I found an interesting book in the library, would you like me to read it to you?"

Alicia smiled, " I'd like that, thank you."

" We should be getting back with the others too." Bombur said as he moved aside for Bilbo to take his place.

" Aye we should, but that doesn't mean we won't be back." Bofur made to get up, but the girl pulled him closer and wrapped him in the same bear hug she gave Bombur.

" Thank you for what you did Bofur, that was so generous of you." She said in his ear.

" Oh- yer quite welcome lass. It was no trouble." He didn't move until she chose to disengage. They bade farewell and left the room, the door half open.

Sweat dripped down his face, cool air stung his lungs. Clearing his mind from any distractions, he calculated his next attack. Should he wait? Should he swing first?

The answer came as a large, dark mass came swinging for his head. Practiced reflex made him duck and jab at his attacker. The attacker saw this coming, and cleverly used the butt of his weapon to block his jab.

Another two swings had him back peddling and swaying away from the large weapon that could smash his brains before he knew he was dead. With patience, he waited for an opening.

There weren't many that he could hone in on very long. He decided to lead the attacker in a fake sense of victory. It took some time, but slowly, the attacker lulled into his trap. Steady…. Steady…

Now! A quick side-step, double slash, parry, jab… keep up with him, press the barrage… knock off balance then deliver the killing blow.

" AAGH!" the attacker fell to his knees, but got back up, only to be met with a sword to the neck." Heh heh….. yeh got me…. again Thorin…. Three for you…. Two for..me.."

Thorin traded his sword to his other hand, " You have always made it hard pressed to gain victory when opposing you Dwalin."

They leaned on each other as they made their way to a table where Dori and Gandalf had refreshments out.

" A thrilling duel as always masters." Dori greeted.

" It seems you've been occupied with your own duels." Dwalin said, nodding to the thin layer of sweat on Dori's face. He also had his out layer clothes draped over his chair.

" Ah yes, well. Nori trained with Gloin for a while, then pulled me into it with Ori and Oin. Next thing it was an all-out battle royal!" Dori complained. " I barely escaped with my braids still attached!"

Gandalf chortled as he sipped his wine. He watched them gang up on Oin, only to suddenly reverse on Dori.

Dwalin laughed, " Where was Balin?"

" He's in the observatory, last I checked." Gandalf said.

" Oh, o' course he is." Dwalin grumbled. " An' I suppose Fili and Kili are out causing mischief as usual, with Bofur and his kin on their tales to bail 'em out."

" They finished their practice, they deserve a break before resuming again. Let them make a few elves want to rip their own hair out before we leave. " Thorin said as he eased into another chair.

" When did you want to leave? I hope it's not too terribly soon." Gandalf asked.

" As soon as we can. Once all our men have recovered, regained their strength and supplies, we leave."

" Does that include Alicia?"

The dwarves stopped for a moment, looking to Thorin before looking away. Of course, Thorin didn't miss it.

" How long will it be before she is fit for travel?" He asked.

" I do believe the only major problems she has now would be her sigh, It has not fully returned yet, but it will most likely tomorrow and her ankle. She cannot walk without a crutch just yet." Gandalf informed. Thorin let out an exasperated sigh. He fixed the dwarf with a pointed look. "Of course you could always leave her here, being the _distraction_ that she tends to be."

Thorin looked back up to him, meeting the wizard's disapproving gaze, slightly surprised at the wizard, but he smoothened his face quickly." She already knows about our plans. We cannot risk her spreading the word to unwanted ears."

" Yes. Her incessant talking will get us all killed." Gandalf retorted.

Thorin's lips curled in a deep snarl as he tried to keep his temper controlled. " What do you suggest I do then wizard?"

" Take her of course. She has been a good asset to the entire camp. You may find that you have more in common with her than you think."

" Like what?"

" Why don't you go ask her?" Gandalf said evenly.

Thorin looked between him, Dori and Dwalin. " What do you think of her?" He asked.

Dori answered first." She's as sweet as cake, dangerous as walking into a warg den. Ori is quite fond of her. I would feel horrible just leaving her after all she's done for us."

Dwalin answered next. " She's got skill no doubting that, though I've never seen her use that sword of 'ers. She saved our lives. We owe her something."

" We owe her nothing." Thorin snapped. " We did not ask her to join. She knew from the start what she was getting into."

Although nobody openly argued with him, he could see in all three of them that they didn't agree with him. Another sigh to calm him back down, " I will speak to her."

Although extremely awkward at first, Alicia couldn't deny that she needed a little help finding the soap and shampoo. Cirinel and Merinah made her as comfortable as possible, they gossiped on the other side of the curtains as Alicia bathed. They helped her change into a soft gown with leggings, after that they brushed her hair and re-dressed her wounds. Alicia enjoyed listening to them. It reminded her of colonial times when all the girls would gather in one room, trying all kinds of new beauty products and gossiped about the most handsome men. The soaps and lotions smelled like gardenias, he mother's favorite flower.

" Oh I cannot wait till your eyes have fully healed and your ankle is better. I know you told me you weren't much for dressing up, but I think these dresses would look wonderful on you." Merinah said.

" Your skin complexion goes with so many colors."

" Thank you. As long as it isn't pink. I'm not a big fan of pink." The survivor humored. " I do love the gardenia shampoos and soaps you have though, their my mother's favorite."

Cirinel gave Alicia ice cold water she liked. " Do you? My dear friend Santirel made them. I've never bought soaps from anyone else since I've tried hers. Are you hungry?"

" Yes please."

Alicia was served a bowl of vegetable soup with warm biscuits at the side, and of course, a tall glass of milk. Of course, she would have to be hand fed again, though that didn't stop Alicia from trying to feed herself a couple times. The three of them laughed whenever she missed the plate.

There was a knock at the door, " Who's that?"

" It's two of the guests. One with a long white beard and a brunette one with a most intricate hairstyle." Cirinel informed.

" Balin is fine miss." With a slight hint of indifference.

" Balin? And Nori I'm guessing?" Alicia perked.

" How are you lassie? Oh, We don't mean to interrupt your meal." Balin said.

Alicia was more than happy to hear him, and even humbled that Nori would care enough to stop for a visit. " Not at all! How are you two?" Alicia tried to keep her happiness under control.

" We are well as ever. I see they still have your eyes wrapped. I also heard your foot was injured. How are you faring?"

Nori snickered, " Are you trying to eat with no eyes? How's that going? By the look of your chin and gown, it's going horribly."

" What? Whad'u talkin' about?!" Alicia felt her chin and chest, making Nori laugh even more.

" Come off it Nori. Remember she got this way saving you." Balin snapped.

Alicia laughed at them both, even the elves giggled. " Oh I see. Five thousand comedians out of work and you're over here crackin' jokes."

" Couldn't help myself." Nori said.

" I heard ya'll were training." Alicia inquired.

" Aye, every now and then." Balin said taking a seat by her. " I found a nice observatory room, lots of maps and star citing."

" I bet you were there for hours. Like Bilbo is in the library. He told me he had to do some training too."

" Aye, it's next to the library actually. And yes, he did. Not too bad for his first time I daresay. Especially, with that letter opener of his."

" Letter opener?"

Nori picked up a mirror by the vanity. " Oh, yes. His little sword Gandalf gave to him from the troll horde."

" You're calling that a letter opener? How big are your letters then?" Alicia asked them.

" Just big enough for that sword to cut up before I have to read it." Balin answered.

" I take it not all your letters-…. Nori what are you doing?" Alicia stopped and turned in the general direction she heard him.

" What are you talking about?" He answered innocently.

" You're taking stuff."

"…."

" I can hear you."

" You don't hear anything except the voices in your own head!" Nori teased.

" And you stealing jewelry!"

" You don't need it anyway, can't even see if they'd look good on you."

" They aren't mine in the first place. Probly' not even real."

" They are _not_ master dwarf." Cirinel said in a friendly tone. " They are glass, paint and resin. There's nothing of any value to steal here. Try the armory again."

Balin laughed at Nori's reddening face, " Not as _unnoticeable_ as you thought you were lad?"

" Well, I have to get my silver from somewhere. And that's because of you!" He turned back to Alicia as she giggled. " You stopped me from taking Bilbo's silver, how you managed to take it back I don't know, but he told me found a pile of his silver on his mother's desk with a note saying 'The dwarf with the trident hair tried to steal these, watch him around your goods'." The girl continued to smile sheepishly.

" Only because you refilled my bag with food that my brothers and I kept our bellies filled with I am able to forgive you, this time."

" A good and smart friend of mine once said, ' A good thief or looter takes advantage of every opportunity they have." Alicia answered.

" You forgot handsome, cunning, chivalrous." Nori added.

" Big-headed, eccentric, and rebellious." Balin finished, earning more laughs from Alicia and a hard glare from Nori.

While the girl finished her meal, Balin told her a story of from dwarf legends that had even the elves not leaving till the story finished. It was one that sounded similar to Mulan, but with a twist similar to Star Wars.

" Hmm.." Nori mulled it over. " I would've just destroyed that one possessed diamond in the first place, freeing my kingdom and making off with the rest of the treasure." Nori concluded after the story.

" That was a good story, thank you Balin." Alicia felt for her arm warmers and slipped them on.

" Any time lassie. Now I see I've made you sleepy, so I'll take my leave. Ori has drawn a few pictures of you during our time here." The old dwarf said.

Alicia scooted closer to him and gently, but confidently reached over and found his shoulder. As she did before, she pulled him into her bear hug which Balin returned. He had steadily been growing fond of the girl, and this hug sealed it.

" Nori?" Alicia called.

" What?"

She held out her hands.

" No."

" Please?"

" I don't think so."

She made a hurt face and dropped her arms. " Oh, I understand, you're a good brother and you shouldn't have to burden yourself with me anyways."

There was a moan and an annoyed snort. " Ori told you to say that! Didn't he?!"

" What? No! I haven't even seen him in a while."

" You can't _SEE_ anything!"

"….Please?"

" I'd have to kill you after words, I don't think you want that." Nori said as he walked towards the door.

Still, woman wore a happy grin on her face, thanking both the dwarves for stopping by to see her before they left.

" You have made good friends _Rhathel_. I was told that once a dwarf has deemed you worthy of their love, there is no act of good or evil that can get rid of them, their loyalty unquestionable." Merinah said.

" I am blessed, to have both dwarven and elfish friends." Alicia concluded as she made herself comfortable.

A group of elves sat around an outside table for lunch, unaware of two spies hiding in the bushes. They held back their snickering as best they could.

One elf took a drink of his tea, and as he smiled, his teeth went from white, to stained ink.

Another lady put sugar in her tea, but nearly gagged when she found out it was salt.

There was sand in the biscuits, bees in and upside down tea cup, hot sauce carefully hidden in the cakes, and water puddles on the chairs that were unnoticed by some till it was too late.

" Nice touch with the water brother."

" I thought they would notice, but I'm glad some didn't, especially Mr. golden locks there."

The two skittered away before their laughing gave them away.

Kili laughed all the way back to the training grounds, recalling the elves' reactions and re-enacting them.

Fili walked with an accomplished air about him, He motioned for Kili to be quiet when their uncle walked by.

" What are you two up to?" Thorin asked, not liking his nephews' behavior one bit.

" We just went for a walk." Fili said. Kili's smile was too big.

Thorin pursed his lips. " Make sure you have everything you need before we leave. And I want you two to practice training with other weapons as well as your own."

" Yes Uncle." The brothers said in unison.

They came back to the training fields in time to see everyone else fumbling, cursing or taking a break.

" I guess Uncle has us all training with unfamiliar weapons." Kili stated.

Dwalin walked around, guiding and showing the others how to use each device.

" Kili?" Ori said. " Can you show me how to use a bow?"

" Of course! Come let's see what you can do so far!" Kili and Ori went off to the targets.

Fili saw Oin using throwing axes. His hearing may be going, but his hands and eyes are still as steady as ever. He saw Bifur using a mace to train with Nori who was using a flail. The dwarf thief did not like his new weapon, and didn't like going up against an opponent who seemed nearly unstoppable. No doubt he was able to slow down the odd dwarf, but not completely stop him, and it frustrated Nori to no end!

Meanwhile, Bofur trained with Gloin, and Dori with Bombur, and Balin with Bilbo. Actually in the last two's case, they were more discussing the best route to travel, how to read the stars and sun dial, etc.

Fili smiled, wondering where Uncle got the idea to do this as he went to practice throwing axes with Oin.

" Hell Mister Oin! You've got good aim." Fili said.

" Eh? What dame? Here lad, why don't you try?" Oin held up his axes for the gold dwarf.

Shrugging he took the throwing axes and took aim. His first was completely off. Oin chortled behind him.

" Don't squeeze it lad. Keep it loose, let it fly from your hand."

He tried again and again, he only hit the target once, but at least he was getting closer and aiming better. He still grew impatient with it though.

" How long are we supposed to do this?" Fili asked.

" Wuzzat?" Oin held up his ear horn.

" How long are we to train with different weapons?" Fili asked louder.

" Oh, I don't think it's supposed to rain today. Thorin wants us to train with different weapons for an hour or so. Then it's whatever Dwalin decides till lunch break." The physician stretched.

Fili glanced over at his brother Kili, who was helping Ori perfect his stance.

Gloin let out a stream of curses when Bofur was able to pull away his spear. But the spear slipped and swung back to pop Gloin in the face. A red line appeared across the dwarf's right face.

" Sorry Master Gloin. Are ye alright?" Bofur asked.

Dori displayed his strength when he was able to push Bombur's girth back a few yards.

After an hour, Dwalin and Nori got in a heated argument about Nori fighting dirty and almost sent Bifur to the infirmary.

" I hope I'm finished with these." Dori mumbled placing the daggers down as he leaned on his knees to catch his breath."

" We're done then. No more strange weapons!" Kili came back alongside Ori.

" Aye."Dwalin agreed as he and Nori glared at each other. A smirk tugged at his lips. " No more strange weapons, no weapons at all! Hand to hand combat with new opponents! You and me Nori."

The dwarves weren't overly excited about that, especially Bofur who now had Thorin as an opponent. Most wanted to watch the outcome of Nori and Dwalin. Reluctantly, they dispersed and followed Dwalin's lead and orders.

Kili was able to block a few of Gloin's punches, until Gloin got him in a vice grip and took the younger one down easily. " This isn't fair, you're twice my size." The black haired dwarf whined.

" Come now lad, use your brain then!" Gloin bellowed. " How do you take down an opponent bigger than yourself?" He braced himself for Kili's attack.

Bifur had Fili to combat with. It seemed that every tactic Fili tried, Bifur swung him off without breaking a sweat and barely using both his hands. Just to be fair, they switched opponents after the first few rounds.

Some had fun, some grew more frustrated, but the all were exhausted after it was over and it was well past mid-afternoon when Dwalin called for lunch break.

As happy as they were to get to eat, their movements were slow and sluggish, having worn themselves out. But in the next minute, Bilbo and Balin, (who had just finished setting the table), had to move quickly before they were trampled over.

" Worked up an appetite have we?" The old dwarf chuckled as he found a seat next to Ori. Thorin stayed behind, choosing to wait until his men have recovered and eaten their fill before he came. He leaned up against the base of a tree, stretching his muscles to help prevent soreness.

The dwarves settled down in their seats, stripping off any other layers that suffocated their skin from breathing, some kicking off their boots, and pouring drinks. Bilbo sighed and looked up. That's when he noticed something strange, like enormous leaves inverting as if they were holding water.

" Uh, um, gentlemen, I'm sorry to interrupt but, there's something above your heads-" Before Bilbo could finish, the enormous leaves tilted down, pouring their contents on the dwarves. If the cool water had not been so refreshing, the dwarves would be ranting and fuming much more than they were. They promptly went back to eating.

Ori sniffed and looked around curiously, " Do you smell something?"

Bofur looked around, he smelled his ale, his food, then his shirt. " That water has a funny smell to it."

Gloin sniffed too. He recognized that scent from somewhere. Loud chirps erupted from the trees, causing him to look up. His eyes bulged at the sight of a swarm coming their way. " Dulin Yel! Bird attractant!"

The company was swallowed by the swarm of multiple types of birds, they were picked, pecked, scratched, and screeched at as they tried to defend their food more than themselves.

Bilbo ducked for cover, heading to the clearing where Thorin watched with his mouth half agape.

The hobbit tried his best not to laugh out loud at the dwarves' situation. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two elves standing under a canopy, a golden haired male and a brunette female, smiling contentedly as he observed the company from a distance.

Alicia was frustrated with not being able to see anything yet. She was happy for the challenge, but still irritable when she had to feel her way around awkwardly, with sore ribs and a limping ankle. She wanted to wash her oily face and hands, so she felt her way across the floor. She had just remembered that she wasn't lying in her bed right to begin with and assumed that she rolled out on the opposite side. So she felt her way around again. On her feet, she stretched out all her muscles as best she could, and slowly tip-toed her way on her bare feet. Eventually, she did find a door and opened it.

Walking slowly but confidently, she waited till she bumped into the sink or tub. After an unusually long while of not hitting anything, she grew puzzled. Her bathroom was not this big right?...

She didn't feel any soft rug, no sweet smelling soaps, and around her felt more 'open' than usual.

Reaching out, even the wall felt different. She continued feeling the walls, nursing her injured leg. Eventually, she found some kind of stand. The stand had long sticks leaning against and she took one to help guide her.

'This is so not my bathroom.. I musta' walked right outta my room!' She steadied her panic that welled up suddenly. She had no idea what the place around her looked like, since she was blind when she entered. But according to what Gandalf said, there's lots of activity and people bustling about. Someone should find her, another nurse hopefully. So her choices, trace her steps back to her room, or explore the place with no eyes. She stood there, thinking about it. I guess I should go back to my room. So she turned around, and felt her way back. But somewhere, the wall disappeared, and she found no door against the wall she hit. So she felt down one side, using the stick in an arc motion to detect any obstacles. Still, there was no door. So she moved slowly down and down the hall. Both fear and curiosity rumbled inside her. She smelled the outdoors coming from the right. She inched her way left and still smelled outside and felt stairs. So she kept going. The floor was still stone ahead of her.

The outdoors smell disappeared and was replaced with still air. She felt the sensation of walls closer to her and figured she was still in a hall. The wall disappeared again, indicating an intersection of some kind, so she took the right. As she explored, the fear subsided for a while. She found steps, and heard trickling of water. Carefully, she stepped down. The sweet scent of flowers invaded her nostrils, but the ground was still pavement. So she wasn't _completely_ outside, perhaps a fountain, straining her ears to listen to what sounded like grunts and yells far off. She inched her way down, smiling as she listened to the birds singing.

" Oh dear." A voice, soft and clear, sweet and smooth resounded in the area_._

She froze again, trying to detect the direction in which the voice came from. She had never heard it before.

" You are fearless indeed to travel outside your room with your eyes still healing, young Alicia."

Alicia stepped back, " Umm, Thank you. I'm sorry who am I speaking to?"

The voice laughed sweetly, obviously female, " My name is Galadriel. Pleased to meet you."

" Gal- adri-el. That's a pretty name, I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you before have I?" Alicia asked, standing rigid.

" No we have not. However, I know of you already as Gandalf and Lord Elrond have spoken of you before." Galadriel said, her voice came closer to Alicia. " Are you thirsty? Let me take your hand, I will guide you to the fountain."

" Drink from the fountain? Is that legal?" Alicia asked stupidly as the lady gently took her hand and guided her.

Galadriel laughed again, " Tis' a drinking fountain for all those who wish to quell their thirst, I do not think Lord Elrond will be displeased."

" Oh, heh. I thought it was a fountain for fish." Alicia apologized. Her stick hit the edge of the fountain, and she felt for the water. She found the little waterfall and splashed some on her face while she drank.

" Thank you for your help Ms. Galadriel. Would you happen to know what the yelling is about?"

" Your friends, the dwarves are training down by the training grounds."

The girl nodded understandingly, she tiled her head back. " Those birds sound like they're right here."

" Indeed they are. I'm happy you find their songs as joyful as I do. I can bring them closer if you wish."

And in the next moment, Alicia heard the flutter of wings draw near, and the song birds sang right in front of her on the fountain. Her smile stretched across her face, like a kid in a toy store. " Beautiful."

" I must say" Galadriel continued after the songbirds quieted down. " You are a very interesting human."

Alicia turned her direction, " Really?" Her shoulders dropped then. " Well, maybe you're right."

" I can tell, you have gone through many hardships, the likes of which few can fully relate to. And yet, you have found a way to hold onto your humanity and appreciate the minor things." Galadriel said.

The girl merely smiled.

" I admire your determination." Galadriel said.

The survivor got up from her knees to bow in Galadriel's direction, understanding that bowing is the gesture of showing respect here. " Thank you. I have only the heavenly father to thank for that. Without him I'd have gone completely insane."

" I have heard you are already slightly mad."

Alicia chortled at that, which probably wasn't the correct reaction. " I try not to make it too obvious if I can." She was relieved to hear the other lady laugh with her.

( SOUNDS OF THE PRANK PLAYED ON DWARVES COME)

" I warned them their pride and stubbornness would bring them ill!" Another irritable voice came up.

" Serves them right I say!" With a haughty chuckle.

This voice was very recognizable. The survivor smirked as she listened to the half stomps of the grey wizard approach. " Oh, My lady Galadriel. How are you? Alicia? Dear child what are you doing?"

" I was listening to the song birds, and having a nice conversation with Ms. Galadriel."

" I see. Well, you have Cirinel and Merinah worried sick about you, searching frantically for you." Gandalf said. " What are you doing with that pike staff?"

"…Oops."

" Hmph. I'll take you back to your room when Lady Galadriel is finished." Gandalf sighed.

Galadriel, Alicia, and Gandalf listened to the dwarves' screams and bantering in the background, amused at how they frantically tried to escape the animals that pursued them.

" Alicia my dear, it has truly been a pleasure to meet you." Galadriel spoke after the show.

" I'm happy to have met you too Ms.- Lady Galadriel." Alicia replied. They bade farewell and Gandalf took Alicia's hand to guide her back to her room.

" So I take it you are healing well?" Gandalf broke the silence.

" Yes sir. Lady Galadriel says you mentioned me to her and Lord Elrond."

" Ah, yes, I did. They wanted to know about a strange woman riding a warg and so I told them you are a friend of mine."

"…. A half insane friend?"

" I did not say that. That part would be completely from their own opinions." Gandalf defended himself.

" Oh really, is that it? Well, where's the fun in being completely normal anyway?"

Gandalf opened the door and ushered her in. "We have enough to worry about without having to look over our shoulders all the time just to see if you're still there, thank you.

" Rest, now. I should perhaps see if I can hold Thorin's temper at bay before he decides to burn down the entire city." Gandalf helped Alicia to her bed and promptly left.

She said a little 'thank you' prayer and to watch over her colony as she laid back.

" Alicia!" Merinah and Cirinel burst inside.

" Where have you been?! What do you think you were doing wandering off without letting us know?!" Cirinel chastised.

" I'm SORRY! Jeez.." Alicia groaned.

" This time, you're going to take a drought before you go to bed for the night." Cirinel announced " I simply cannot risk having you wandering off in the middle of the night."

" Fine, but if I go into hibernation…"

The elves just huffed at her absurdity.

_"We've got the goliath up and running!" Shouted a man as he whooped with excitement. _

_Guns were checked, traps were set. Any children, sick or elderly were packed safely away in the middle with boats standing by at the ready._

_" Time to kick zombie ass!" A young man said. He was a chubby guy with fair skin, brown hair and a short beard. He was known to be the lazy guy, not wanting to move much more than he had to. Luckily they had a place for him in the lookout tower where all he had to do was defend the gate. _

_" Just make sure you don't shoot me this time Lonnie." Said another guy, slightly annoyed at Lonnie._

_This guy was not as fat by far, he had just restarted growing out his hair to get some more dread locks, now that he was out of the air force. His post was to be right at the gate. _

_" I didn't shoot you last time either, I just came close. If you'd quit running around and stay in one place, that wouldn't be a problem." Lonnie argued._

_" Yaaay! I'm ready to rock!" Said another young woman who was the shortest. With a petite body, she was a harder target to hit, but her long black hair always had to be piled in a bun or tucked behind her vest or something could easily grab hold of it. She was Jeremy's girlfriend._

_" Alright Michelle." Jeremy smiled and grabbed a bat with nails growing through the top. " Alicia's waiting for us. Let's go."_

_" Tell Gage he's gonna lose this time!" Lonnie shouted after them. _

_A large horde of zombies came stumbling, crawling and staggering out of the woods. Once they came within range, catapults were launched, sending noise making bombs towards them. Most of the zombies turned towards them and clambered after them, only to be blown up. _

_Jumpers came dashing out of the residual smoke with regular zombies following. A couple of tankers made an appearance, roaring and gurgling sickeningly. At first, the battle stayed in the defenders' favor, when the tankers came in too close, the goliath was released and drove around. The goliath was a customized truck that barreled through the dead. In the truck bed was two rifle stands that the riflemen used to shoot down the tankers and lead them away from the gate and into more traps. One tanker got caught in the excessive barb wire, slowing him down enough for those on the tower to get better aim for his head._

_They were not reckless with their bullets, not even shot gun shells even though they were able to make more. Alicia fought with calm and focus, using a six foot metal pipe with both the ends flattened and sharpened. This allowed her to keep monsters back and slice through their skulls. It was one of her favorites when it came to fighting back a horde. She let her adrenaline fuel her to keep going. Some jumpers tried to come to the tower where Gage was stationed, but the scrawny boy was most known for his love of sniping. If he missed a target, his girlfriend would back him up. _

_When the first wave was cut down, the colony began to disperse and return to what they were doing, but then more inhuman roars resounded, and a second wave, even bigger than the first came. This wave had the colony gawking, hearts racing, minds panicking. This wave was the size of the average high school, numbering between two to four thousand! A number that was by far too much for the small colony to handle for very long._

_Alicia called her friends back behind the gate. She looked to the group of leaders that gathered around discussing plans of action. Some said take whatever vehicles needed and lure as many zombies away as possible, others said forget it, lock up what they can, retreat to the island in the middle of the lake and wait till they dissipate. As the tankers, jumpers, banshees, chokers, and tacklers gathered around the gate, their plan was decided. As those who couldn't fight loaded onto the boats and secured crops and livestock that couldn't come, those who could fight would kill the zombies that are the biggest threat first. Alicia made her way to where they kept the homemade bombs. She grabbed as many as she could and used strategically against the oncoming monsters. Despite the defenders' best efforts, they could only make a dent before the retreat was called. A tanker hit hard against the wall as Alicia ran by, knocking down a support beam that blocked her path to the last boat. Her friends ran by, not hearing her calls for help, and as one of the gates fell, she watched the zombies shambling their way in. Alicia ran around a building, trying to map out her best escape route and chances of living. As she ran, she saw the half eaten body of Oin on the ground. She continued to run and came across Nori fighting for his life with Thorin as they ran on. Alicia even came across Gandalf, blasting away as best he could, then the rest of the company. Bofur was nursing a bloodied and wrapped up arm, his eyes red with tears as he stared at his undead cousin. Bofur couldn't bring himself to end Bifur. So Alicia did it for him without a second's thought. A howl of anguish erupted from Bofur, she urged him to keep going, but he began to swing violently in every direction, not caring who or what he hit. He punched Alicia in the gut and that's when she noticed black veins snaking from his neck and webbing across his face. He had become a Crazy. Alicia ran from him. She found others, both from Thorin's company and from her colony, and every time she tried to help, something went wrong and she couldn't save them. Cirinel, her brother, Emily and Gage, they all fell and either turned to Crazies or zombies. Then Alicia was alone. Drenched head to toe in sweat, blood and gore that she knew wasn't hers, and didn't care to deny who's it really was. She was both relieved and terrified that she felt no grief, anger, sorrow, or even hate at what she'd done. Gloin and Fili wandered about, dead eyed, moaning. Jeremy was there, turned into a Crazy fighting to the death with Balin who had also gone Crazy. Dori went to tackle another man, when he got hold of him, he pummeled and crushed him till the body was nothing. When they all spotted her they turned and came after her, and she fought, not caring about dying or surviving, but crying the whole time._

She lay curled up on her bed, sweating and cringing. Images of what has happened still swimming through her head. She tried to open her eyes, but for some reason, her vision had gone blurry, she could just make out her hand in front of her face. She knew she needed to get up. She fell off of whatever she was lying on, knocked something else down and staggered to her injured feet. Looking around, or trying to, nothing of what she could make out was remotely familiar to her, but seeing a bright 'square" at on side, she made her way to the window. Climbing atop the desk knocking some things down she tried to search for the lock or something she could open it.

" Alicia?"

The girl whirled around, steeling herself.

" What on earth are you doing on the dresser?" Merinah called.

" What's going on?!" Alicia answered back, she saw three other forms enter behind the elf.

" That's what I should be asking you deary?"

"Oi lass! Are ya trying to fly?" Another familiar voice chuckled.

_BOFUR!_ She pressed herself against up the window, that she now found out was a mirror.

Bofur stopped chuckling when he noticed the panicked look in Alicia's eyes. " What's wrong?"

Alicia suddenly froze like she just realized something, " Where's Bifur? How's Bifur?"

" He's right here. He'll remember to watch for that last step from now on I'm sure." Bofur laughed nervously. Hearing Alicia whimper and going back to looking panicked, he quickly added, " But he's just fine now see? Oh-um…" No, she couldn't _see_… " Say something Bifur."

" Uruk' zen bachl' kasan?" (Is she crazy?) Bifur asked. Alicia visibly sighed in relief.

" Yes. I'm glad." Not understanding what Bifur said. She giggled lightly at her own embarrassing misjudgments. The four in the room looked at each other. To Merinah, her laugh sounded entirely too much like someone gone mad.

Merinah raised her arms up to help Alicia down, " Is something amiss, and would you please get down now before you injure yourself even more?"

" I just a-_missed_ the window, thinking it was over here, but it was just the sunlight reflecting off the mirror, and the window is actually over there." Alicia shrugged, earning snorts from the dwarves. " And I blame you for this. You and your drought." She wagged her finger in the direction Cirinel's voice came from.

Merinah took most of Alicia's weight, helping her back to the bed. " Would you like me to open the window some?"

" I would like that very much." The girl thanked. She put on an exaggerated frown as she looked down at her foot.

" It is healing well, I promise, but you mustn't rush it or over exert yourself, which means no more climbing on furniture." Merinah said. " Your friends have brought you breakfast again."

To Merinah, the woman felt unusually tense and stiff. She waved her hand in front of the girl. Alicia watched it curiously.

" Your sight, it's coming back, how wonderful. Can you see your friends?"

Alicia squinted, " Barely.."

" Well, at least you are able to walk better now." She dabbed her forehead to clean away the sweat.

Bofur, Bombur and Bifur gathered close to her once the elf was finished. Bifur noticed that his carving had a pillow of it's own next to Alicia's. His face went soft as he moved beside Alicia.

Bombur set his tray in front of the survivor, " I made a stuffed croissant this time, with cream cheese and jelly inside, along with your favorite bacon and sausages."

" Th-thank you Bombur. It smells delicious. How are you feeling?"

" I'm just fine too, thank you." He politely answered, not wanting to voice his confusion about the girl's strange questions.

She flinched from Bofur's hand as he tried to cup her chin, " Oh... Sorry Bofur."

" It's alright. Are you sure you're alright?" Bofur said. He had never seen her so antsy before.

" Yes, nothing's wrong. Everything's fine."

Bifur said something beside her, making her look up at him. He certainly did not like the ghostly look she had.

" Hmm. Bifur says he doesn't believe ya for a second. Honestly, I don't either." Bofur mumbled.

The woman sighed, " I had a…. niiiiiiight maaare or something. Guess I'm still a little jumpy from it."

" Oh aye." Bofur answered. " Don't get much of those eh? That's a good thing, but they're just dreams, no matter what. Remember that."

Alicia smiled thankfully.

" Do you want to talk about it?"

Her smile vanished and she answered with a stern " No. No, thank you sir."

" 'Sir'? It's Bofur to you lass." He half joked.

She turned to him, a big smile spreading across her face, " I can see you. Not clearly yet, but better."

His goofy grin threatened to stretch across his entire face. He lifted up the fork that held her first bite to her mouth. She took it happily.

" I thought so." Bofur chuckled.

" Bombur you've done it again. I don't suppose you sell recipe books?" Alicia said with a mouthful of food.

Bifur nodded approvingly now that the woman was smiling again.

Alicia turned to him. She smiled, " Thank you for coming to visit me Bifur, and I love the carving. It's amazing and beautiful."

The cousin patted her on the head. The woman caught him by surprise and threw her arms around his neck in a loving hug.

Bifur liked hugs, and returned one equally as endearing to her. Even as she ate, she held onto his hand. She didn't mind it when he stroked her hair either, which most people tended to back away from. This young lass didn't find him to be creepy or scary at all, and he appreciated her for it. He got another idea and used hand signs to tell his cousins. They agreed with eager nods.

When Bilbo came to visit, Bilbo was surprised that Bifur even knew how to be affectionate, but he smiled happily anyway.

Thorin knocked on her door, waiting for Alicia to say come in. By that time, Alicia's sight recovered enough to just about make out the entire room.

She was sipping some tea and listening to Bilbo read to her again. " Thorin? How are you?" She asked him.

" I am well thank you. Bilbo." A bit surprised that she asked first, her being the sick one and all. He nodded to the hobbit." How are your wounds healing?"

" Fast. My eye sights coming back, my ribs are good, and I can kinda walk on my ankle now." She answered.

" I see. It is good that your injuries were so few, compared to most warriors who've fought wargs." Thorin mused. He was offered tea, but politely turned it down.

" I'm just happy this was all that your company suffered. Though I certainly wasn't expecting to end up in an hidden elf city." Alicia said.

" Neither was I. Gandalf led us here, thinking it to be the safest place for us." The king answered. " I am sorry what happened out there. Had I known you were still alive, I would have come."

Alicia smiled at him, happy she was able to finally see the people she was talking to. " It's alright. I understand really. Gandalf came by and told me what's happened since ya'll came here. These elves, they weren't like that Thra-ndu-el guy to you right?"

Thorin raised his brows to her, " How did you know about what King Thranduil has done? Did Gandalf tell you that too?"

" I read it to her in a book." Bilbo spoke quickly. " I read it to her in a history book yesterday, didn't we dear?" the hobbit gave Alicia a subtle pointed look. The girl just grinned back to hide her confusion.

" I see." Said Thorin. " Then perhaps you know that I have no love for any elf anywhere what-so-ever."

" Yes." Alicia answered. " How much longer will you be staying?"

" Until you are ready for traveling again. Without a limp." Thorin answered. Alicia looked slightly surprised. She cleared her throat.

" Do you not wish to come?"

" I would come of course, but remember you have the final say. I was only supposed to be with you for a while till you decide if I'm just another mouth to feed or an asset." Alicia said evenly. " I remember what you said about me so far back at the Troll cave."

Bilbo stiffened.

" Yes. That's still somewhat true. Who but a madman would think it's a good idea to ride a hungry warg after all?" Thorin asked rhetorically.

He looked at Bilbo a moment, who shifted uncomfortably and looked like he was about to blurt out in a little hobbit outrage.

" And yet there are some things that you have done that have been helpful to us. I know that you only meant to be helpful; from the beginning. I know you saved our lives, twice, and I know my men have been sneaking off to see you." He gave Bilbo another pointed look, which had the hobbit shrinking back a little.

" You didn't volunteer to join us, Gandalf did. But neither did you protest, why is that?" Thorin asked slowly as to not sound angry.

" I tried going back home first remember? I was sad to say goodbye to you and yours, because I really enjoyed meeting you all, but I had to at least try to go back. And I did, but it seemed that every path I took just led me right back to you all. Then, when I saw the company riding off… I don't know how else to explain it except…. When God tells you to do something, have faith, trust in him, and just do it."

Thorin tilted his head, " So you believe your God spoke to you and told you to join us? Why would he say that? Especially when I was not looking for a woman to join a dangerous quest with a group of men."

Alicia shrugged, "Were you expecting a hobbit to be your burglar at first?"

" No I suppose not, but that is different. I asked Gandalf to find only _one_ more member for my company." Thorin made himself comfortable in a chair.

" Yes." Alicia agreed. She thought about it a moment. " There's been few times when I have had to rely on faith alone. It was scary sometimes, because I just wasn't sure of the outcome was going to be in my favor. But that's what faith is isn't it? Doing something because it feels like it just fits in your future, even if you have to do it alone some times."

The dwarf king listened patiently, watching her for any signs of falsehood.

" I came back and asked to be a part of your company because it felt right, like that was the whole reason I even showed up in Bilbo's way."

" Will you not miss your family or your home?"

A sad smile appeared on her lips, " My family is whoever captured my heart now. My home is wherever my heart is." She suddenly looked down with a furrowed brow as if confused by her own words or some moment of realization just hit her.

"I do understand what faith is. But what if you are wrong? What if this quest will be the end of you? You know I cannot be responsible for your fate." Thorin asked.

The woman made eye contact with him again, and there was something peaceful about her.

" Everything has some kind of a risk to it. It's risky just getting out of bed. With all due respect sir, If that specific fear was significant enough to stop us, why are we still doing this now? Why is your company here and not at their homes and Bilbo too and why has Gandalf decided he would help you in the first place? I'm here because I want to be here." Alicia said, ending with a knowing smile.

Thorin watched her carefully as she gave her little speech. She did make some good points. Her words were both philosophical and straight forward. Gandalf would be proud. Alas, he could not find and sign of lying or deceit, and Thorin was good at spotting those things in people. But the girl was good at putting on a performance, such as the one with the trolls.

He stood up, " I'm glad you feel that way, for my men have felt the same for you since they met you. As soon as you are able to move about, I will have Dwalin train you on how to use a sword properly. Then we will leave soon after that."

" Sounds good."

" Good. Heal well. I look forward to your full recovery" Thorin said as he took his leave.

After he closed the door, the girl turned to her hobbit friend and made an exaggerated happy face.

Bilbo chuckled, " I think he just may be starting to like you."

" Try this one on." Merinah said happily as she handed Alicia a yellow dress with vine embroidery on it.

Alicia shrugged, completely fine with the elves discussing which colors looked good for what. The survivor had never been one to care too much about fashion, believing that natural beauty was the best of all.

She happy obliged to whatever her elven friends asked to try on these last couple of days. As they did, the girl looked at her latest gift from Bifur and Bofur leaning against her bed. It was a crutch just her height that had a smooth crescent curve that fit comfortably under her arm pit and a strong handle down the middle for her to hold onto. The bottom was dipped in resin that was similar to rubber and the entire crutch had lovely carved designs done by the dwarves each adding their own touches of creativity to it. It was like a walking staff and crutch in one. Alicia especially loved things that were multifunctional. She would go on walks to get her muscles warmed up and moving again.

When she would join her friends for food, they would politely compliment her 'exotic' beauty.

When she was able to walk on her own and move about properly, Dwalin began her training. He started her off with beginner drills with a variety of weapons to better gage which instruments would work best for her. Kili gave her pointers on using the bow, and although she didn't always hit the target, at least she didn't hit anybody else. The flail was completely alien to her and she smacked herself a few times with it, causing dark bruises to appear on her arm. She did well enough with the staff, axe and sword. Of course her skills were not that of a trained warrior, they were more of the 'hit and run' technique, and she did a good job aiming for vital points like the head and gut. The same went for dual wielding.

" Hmm," Dwalin mumbled. " You're patient I'll give yeh that much, but at least you're not hesitant. You can't always rely on your enemy tiring out before you do yeh know. Yeh don't often fight against opponents with equal intellect as yourself do you?"

" No sir, at least not this way. I was taught to avoid fights if I can." Alicia answered, gripping her daggers.

" And what about when you do and yeh don't have a warg or the trees to aid you?" Dwalin circled around and fainted a sideswing. Alicia's initial reaction is always to step out of the way, but the gruff dwarf wouldn't allow her to get any distance between them, challenging her to go from defense to offence. Sometimes she was able to get past his defense, but only for a second before she was knocked aside, and she knew there was no way she could tackle a guy like Dwalin. One time, she even used her height to her advantage, by stepping on his shoulders, twisting in the air to land behind him with both knives tucked under his chin. Of course the same trick won't work twice.

She waited for Dwalin to take another high swing for her. As he did, she tossed on dagger at him for distraction's sake. She dropped to the ground in a way that wrapped her right leg around the dwarf's right leg. Just as Dwalin looked down, she hooked her hand under his knees, pushed forward and sent the hardy dwarf tumbling on his back. She scrambled to his neck and dramatized an elbow to the neck with a sharp 'Hut!' martial battle cry.

The dwarf glared up at her like she just turned orange and sprouted extra limbs. She blinked to clear her mind from battle mode and smiled apologetically. " When I do have to fight, win by any means necessary." She got off his chest and helped him up.

" Aye." Dwalin agreed. He looked at her quizzically still. " Do you always have to fight dirty?"

She shrugged. " If the other person really wants you dead, is there really such thing as fighting dirty?"

The gruff dwarf shook his head. " Perhaps yeh have appoint there lass." The two walked back under the shade to get refreshments. The rest of the company was watching them on the sidelines so that the wouldn't distract them.

" You have some skill in hand to hand combat I see." Balin passed her a cold cup of water.

" Thank you." She sank to the curb and drank the whole glass.

" You are improving, no doubt." Thorin added. " And now that you have fully recovered, we will be leaving tomorrow. Everyone be sure your provisions are well stocked by early morn."

" Thank you by the way." Alicia said to the king.

" For what?"

" For waiting for me. I'm sure ya'll coulda' left a while ago." She said, pouring another glass of water.

" We all needed time to recover, the rest was well needed for all of us." Thorin answered.

The girl was a little sad to have to say goodbye to such a pretty place, but as equally excited for the newer places she might go.

**In this chapter I wanted to make it more comical and heart-warming since my last chapters were more dramatic, serious and somewhat chilling. Comedy is one of my weak points in writing, so practice practice practice now. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated and maybe I will re-write the chapter later. (^_^)**


	9. Author's Note

**Just to be fair, I a letting my readers know that I may not be posting a new chapter for a while. However, I havenot stopped writing, I'm just as a slower pace than before, (0_o) Due to a large zombie horde that has turned their attention my way, I have to defend the walls and make a few runs for supplies.**

**I got some good tips nd advice that I plan to use for the upcoming chapters, so no worries. They are still coming... eventually...**

**If you'd like, you can still send me reviews and ideas and I will gladly red them, Thank you (^_^)**


	10. Chapter 9 Faulty but not alone

** Well hello everyone! Thank you for waitig so patiently. I finally got ome f my issues out of the way and I'm back here for a little bit. I go some helpful reviews in the mean time. I did read them all and took them into consideration so than you again for those. This chapter I did hae some obstacles over. I certainly wouldn't mind re writing some peices if you have any better suggestins... But I am still happy I finished it none-the-less! Here it is, please enjoy. (^_^)**

It's a grey morning today,

There's no birds, or deer that play.

Only the sounds of

What was once is nevermore, what we have

Is all that's left.

In the cities dark and bare, only cold and empty stare

Hunger never satisfied, only stares with restless eyes

Neighbor was but now is not.

Live together we forgot.

On this night, and through our days,

We survive, and dream to thrive.

All that's left is cold and empty stares.

- Adeleidhis

Alicia did spend the rest of the time she had with the elves before leaving. There was something refreshing about them that the survivor enjoyed. She was given new travel clothes to wear. Ironically forest, earth tone colored clothes. She was even given a dress in case the occasion arose along with her other provisions. She went to bed early, knowing that they would probably be leaving before the sun rose, which she was not looking forward to.

Sure enough, Thorin came to wake her. He seemed pleased with the fact that Alicia slept in all her gear except her boots, ready for the trip.

" Where's Gandalf?" She asked when she joined the group.

" I know not. We do not have the time to wait for him whilst he chats with his elf friends." Thorin answered.

Alicia was a bit confused by this, they waited for her. Why not wait for the wizard? She thought it smart not to press the matter though. The company ate breakfast on the go and they quickly exited the city.

Bilbo glanced a look back, obviously reluctant to leave.

" Balin, you know the mountain here, take the lead. Bilbo, Alicia. I suggest you two keep up." Thorin ordered.

" Not a morning person is he?" Alicia whispered to the hobbit.

" I don't think he has ever been a morning, afternoon, or evening person." Bilbo answered back.

As they traveled, Alicia turned this way and that, taking in the beautiful sights and breathing in the fresh air. The dwarves were in a much happier mood than Alicia had seen them since they left Bilbo's house. They shared stories, skills and jokes with each other as they walked.

Bofur looked at her be musingly." The view is almost as beautiful as you!"

The survivor whirled on him, glaring like he said something offensive and he slightly flinched, " You're beautiful!" She said in a mock irritated voice like that of an elementary kid bickering with another.

The dwarves closest to them heard her and started snickering.

Luckily the goofy dwarf understood that it was a joke. " Well, I prefer the term _handsome_ meslf. Beautiful men are for elves."

Alicia watched when Ori went to drawing or writing again. She took Bofur's hat once when he wasn't looking, getting Nori in trouble for it.

" What would I do with such a ridiculous hat?" Nori snapped.

" Maybe cover up that ridiculous hairstyle perhaps?" Bofur shot back.

" Look, it's right there!" Nori pointed behind him where his hat 'suddenly' appeared. " Why don't you try looking around before accusing innocent people next time?"

Bofur wasn't sure how it got there, he just looked at his bag and didn't see it. He hummed and scanned everyone faces as he fixed his hat on his head. Nori was the first person to be blamed because he usually pick-pocketed the others until they found out he took something before he gave it back. The other dwarves also demonstrated their skills to one another as well.

Fili laughed at his brother's clumsiness when Kili slipped on a slick rock and tumbled on his backside. Alicia pulled him up as she laughed too.

She found herself asking Gloin about being a diplomat.

" A good diplomat is always a good listener, very curious of everything, has an open mind with the humility to picture themselves in other people's positions. They must be quick learning and quick thinking. Communication is also key." Gloin ranted on as if he was teaching her how to be one. She listened intently anyway. " Good diplomat's must be precise. The higher the stakes, the flimsier the agreement can become. I've been trying to teach my son that lesson. Always keep yourself open to new possibilities, but be careful who you strike bargains with. Make doubly sure there's no "hand under the table' if ya know what I mean."

" I know exactly what you mean friend." She smiled.

" Now if you want to talk about something that's actually fun and interesting, you should come talk to me." Fili whispered in her ear as he passed by.

Alicia in turn, taught the three youngest a few traps for catching small game, like the V trap, different types of snares, dead-falls, and how to use the environment to 'guide' the animal into a trap. Ori got the hang of it pretty quickly, unfortunately, some of the traps ended up catching unintended targets such as the rare Fretting Bilbo, a Handle-bar moustache Bofur, the ferocious Bifur, a common swift-swearing Gloin, and even Thorin's foot, which Alicia did not have a nickname for. She also showed the company an ancient style of communication some tribal people used to communicate what was where in the forest using the sticks, leaves and subtle dirt marks.

" These three sticks like this marks a trail path. To anyone it can look like just three straight sticks, but if you're coming from the right direction, you'll see the ones that are leaning slightly towards the right path to take." She explained to Ori who was drawing example pictures.

" This set-up means come this way as fast as you can. By putting this piece this way indicates that it's not an emergency, just something exciting." Alicia explained. Kili moved in front of the set-up and struck a pose. " Of course, if you break this piece and tie the grass blade on the top here, now it's an emergency and someone is hurt. Another common sign of emergency that os more modern and universal is the 'Three tap' rule. This means that if you hear a sound three times, that person is lost and in need of assistance. Like three short horn blasts or something. There's also the big S.O.S. signal that sailors usually use, or telegraphing that not a lot of people outside the military or historians know how to use."

" And what is tela-graf-ing?" Balin asked.

Alicia smiled and began tapping a series of different taps on a rock with a stick.

" You stop for a full second or two after every sentence so that the recipient can understand. Keeping the sentences relatively short is what you want to do." Alicia said. " Hello stop. My name is Alicia stop. Nice to meet you Mr. Balin stop."

Balin chuckled, " We have a sign language of our own called Kha'zdul. That's what Bifur uses as you have seen." Balin made a few signs, " Hello. Nice meeting you, lady Al-e-c-ah."

" Can you teach me?" Alicia asked.

" I would be honored my lady." The old dwarf smiled broadly at her as he listened to more of her lessons.

Alicia had to practice a lot before she could memorize the hand signs to be brutally honest. She had to draw pictures to help remind her of which symbol is which. But, it's not as if she really had anything better to do. Sometimes the boredom had the girl's thoughts drifting into her own imaginations. This meant she wrote short stories based off of previous inspirations. So far, she came up with five stories:

The Warg Wrangler, The three angels Faith Hope and Love, The thief who gave back, The girl and the Singing Horses, and The man in the Flame. A couple of them she told the hobbit when they sat together.

She saw the mountains looming ever closer, she was happy for the new experiences, but a small nagging feeling in the back of her head wouldn't disappear completely every time she looked at them.

As they neared another mountain pass, the mood of the dwarves went steadily happier. But it gave the survivor a strange nostalgic feeling mixed with the awe that mountains tend to give people. She had never been to real mountains before, only large hills and in airplanes. These particular mountains didn't look very friendly either. As they got ever closer and the mountain range looming more ominously, Alicia's stomach suddenly had butterflies. It's not as if she was afraid of heights, in fact, she loved sleeping high above the ground. So, it was strange to her why she felt like she was entering the 'dead zone'.

The dead zones were areas on the map that were overrun with zombies. No one in their right mind would go there and stay there very long. She reminded herself, there are no zombies here, and she has friends here that will help her anytime. No need to be so fidgety.

They talked about their areas of expertise, sharing ideas and wisdom with each other. Of course, Alicia's silence and nervous behavior did not go unnoticed by Bilbo. He stared at her as he watched her swat invisible flies away from her ears. She looked about as if she was listening for something no one else could hear, and every now and then, she would get this far away look in her eyes as if she wasn't with them anymore. That happened most often when the wind howled. In some cases at night, she would suddenly scramble up and run off before she awoke fully and came back to camp. In more subtle incidents, she would just roll around, unable to sleep and just lay there, eyes far away. The watch on duty would end up having an eye out for the camp and one for her.

Dori said that she would have some haunted expression on her face, though he asked what it was about.

Bifur almost had to run her down when she left the camp one night.

Thorin also noticed her distancing behavior. He caught Bilbo's eyes and inquired about her.

" Do you think she has fallen ill?" The king asked. " We must check on her well-being."

Bilbo excused himself from his conversation with Balin and sat by her, Thorin followed a few steps behind.

" Alicia, my dear are you alright?" Bilbo asked.

She looked up to him slowly, eyes wide as if looking right through him. She tried to pathetically mask her nervousness with a crooked paper thin smile, "I'm fine. Thank you."

" You don't seem fine to me." Thorin grumbled.

Her eyes were slightly red, like the shade after someone has cried or they had allergies.

Bilbo shook his head taking her hand in his. It was his turn for his eyes to widen, her fingers were like ice!

" No you're not fine. I've never felt anyone's hands so cold. Why, it's as if you have no blood coursing through them at all! You've been very edgy and why do you keep slapping at her your when there's no pests there?" Bilbo bombarded her with questions. She looked at him as if he wasn't speaking westron anymore.

" Um." Her voice was very small and cracking before she found it again. " I guess I am a little cold. Do you know what the longitude of this mountain is?"

" The what? I'm afraid I don't understand what you're asking." Bilbo said as he tried to warm her hands up.

" How tall is this mountain?" She asked slowly.

" I'm not sure, but the path we've been on has been a safe one." Bilbo smiled, but Alicia only sighed. Apparently she knew of dangers he didn't. He called for her attention again. " Alicia. You're not well, please tell me what's wrong, and don't you leave anything out."

" What symptoms have you noticed different about me?" She asked distantly.

Thorin answered her. " You've been unusually quiet since we came this way." He saw her face was one of analytical thinking, but she couldn't come up with a reason, so he let that one slide for now.

" You flinch like you're under attack at sounds like the moaning of the wind, a rock falling or distant echoes."

Alicia let out a small moan of discomfort herself. " The moans. I've never been on a mountain before, and the moans sound a lot like… the zombie moans. I imagine that's why I'm flinching at the sudden rocks or echoes."

" Zombies?" Thorin mimicked.

" Dead people who come back to eat the living." Bilbo answered. " Her homeland is infested with them. I'm sorry I thought you knew."

Thorin shook his head, agitation clearly on his face for not having been informed of this.

" I have noticed you look at us as if we are about to strike you. I've seen you startle when Bofur or Dori speaks to you." He stated.

Alicia swallowed. She thought she had gotten over her nightmares about them, especially being ball-zy enough to take Bofur's hat. _How do I explain that without sounding retarded?_

" Hmm, that could be… because of…." _The heck with it_… " A nightmare I had recently." She shook her head. " Must be still jumpy from it."

Thorin pursed his lips," What about how you slap at things about your head, when there's nothing there?"

Alicia thought again. She recalled some of her friends telling her about symptoms of P.T.S.D. God, she hoped that she didn't have that, or if she did, that it wasn't too late to stop it.

" I think that's because of when the wind tickles my ear or something, then I think I'm hearing sounds of previous…battles, that's making me flinch."

Thorin nodded in understanding and in annoyance. His thoughts were clear on his face. The woman looked at him and her brows pinched. " It's the best reason I can think of. I honestly didn't notice I was doing all _that_."

" Indeed." Thorin said monotonously.

Thorin was no stranger to the side effects of battle after all. Kin of his also had similar incidents, where they'd wake up screaming or crying at night, or some sound that was familiar to a sound of battle had the veteran warrior suddenly jumping from calm and mellow, to dangerous and ferocious again. He saw her shiver as a sudden chill went up her spine. She said she had never been in the mountains before so the high altitude might be getting to her as well. He knew of cases where people who weren't used to being on the low ground would get light-headed, or even hallucinogenic in some extreme cases. There was nothing he could do about that. Still, he was slightly surprised at himself that he found himself understanding the girl and also feeling some sympathy for her that she had to go through such trauma.

" Are you afraid of the mountains?"

" No, not the mountains…Maybe what lurks in the mountains. I don't know." She mumbled, but held truth in her words none-the-less.

"I'm sorry for your ailment." Thorin said. " Truly you know more about battle and hardship than I expected." He looked back to his men, who were showing sign of tiredness from the long trek today. The dwarf king glanced at Alicia. She will not admit she needs extra help. So he walked back to his men, kneeling down by Gloin to stop him from his fire for a moment as he spoke to them all.

" I'm sorry." Alicia muttered. Bilbo waved it away.

" Oh no no. None of that now. There's nothing to be sorry for. We'll make this journey out of the mountains on one piece you'll see. I'll be right behind you every step of the way."

Alicia smiled at him. "I'd rather have you at my side." She squeezed his hands gratefully.

Suddenly, all the dwarves surrounded the two. Gloin moved his fire bundle in front of her and smiled warmly to her. She looked panicky for a moment, blinked a few times and shook her head as if trying to clear it and make sure I was in fact, Gloin in front of her. He lit the fire easily, with Fili and Kili dropping the extra woods and dead leaves they gathered behind the red headed dwarf. Bifur draped a cloak over her shoulders. Dwalin seated himself behind the girl, leaning back slightly, sharing his body heat with her. Oin sat on her right side checking her for any fevers, colds, etc. Around her shoulder he found some faint dark lines, the poor girl's skin has gone so pale he could see some of her veins! His heart clenched as he saw a look similar to a frightened deer on her face and her breathing came in fast, irregular breaths. As his warm hands rubbed her head, massaged her stiff shoulders, etc., he saw that she couldn't hold back the tears anymore. (And judging by the clenched jaw, she was fighting hard.)

" There there, girlie." Oin said, tears threatening to escape his own eyes. " It's alright you know. We can't be strong all the time. That's why we're here." Some tears fell on his hands as he fixed the cloak around her better. " Here, this herbal tea will help warm you up, it has medicinal properties too. Please drink it all for me." He cupped her hands around the mug, the girl nodded thankfully to him and drank as requested. Balin sat between his brother and Oin, Fili made himself comfortable behind the hobbit as Kili went beside Bilbo and so on until all the dwarves were snug together with the hobbit and girl in the middle.

Thorin couldn't tell if those were tears of joy or humiliation until the girl directed a smile at him in admiration. He nodded back, a slight smirk tugging at his lips in satisfaction. The spot they was a crevice in the mountain path that helped block the chill winds from the company as they huddled for warmth. The company continued on with their chat, Bofur played his flute when it came to merriment time. Nori drummed a nice beat to go with Bofur's tune. At the end of the song, he winked at Alicia, earning another tired smile. The last rays of the sun was dissipating fast as the camp began settling down to sleep. Alicia however, was already asleep on Dwalin. The warrior sat patiently for everyone else to settle into their beds. Even Bilbo, Fili and Kili had all fallen asleep with the girl, leaning against each other comfortably. The veteran warrior watched as the others helped drag or carry the sleeping forms to their beds. " Out like a snuffed candle."

" Aye." Agreed Thorin. " Let them sleep as long as they can tonight, for they will need it." Thorin glanced at the sleep-drunk companions of his group, his eyes resting on Alicia for a moment. " The girl said something about a threat in her land. She called it zombies, saying that they were dead creatures that came back to feast on the living. Have any of you heard of such a threat?"

By the sorrowful reaction of Balin, the uncomfortable shifting of Bofur, Bifur, Bombur, and the scared pale face of Ori, they knew something he did not. Thorin sat by them, " What do you know pray tell?"

As they told the king everything they learned during their stay in Rivendell, his eyes grew wide. Crazies, tankers, tacklers, such heinous creations! The other dwarves who did not know of this were listening intently. Many nervous eyes were darting around after hearing everything. Mostly. they looke to their Alicia.

" The girl is no warrior, she is a survivor. One who fights only if they can win, then leaves when there's still a chance to save their hides." Dwalin grumbled. Balin shot him an angry look. " I'm not callin' 'er a coward!" He said in his defense.

" Blegh," Dori grimaced. " I wouldn't have said anything to anyone either." He mumbled to Nori who agreed.

Thorin had mixed feelings about their female member all over again, mostly of pity and grudging respect. Although she had only been living her nightmare a mere two years compared to Thorin, unlike the dragon that stayed in Erebor, her threat followed her almost wherever she went. The girl has yet to cease surprising him. To be completely honest, he felt somewhat akin to her in this matter.

He turned back to his men. "Oin and Bifur will take first watch. Next Gloin and Bombur, then myself and Dwalin." The leader wrapped his cloak around him tighter as he settled down for the night, trying to ease his own mind full of heavy thoughts and burdens.

**I'll be honest with you, I don't knw what's going on with my font... I hope it doesn't look illegible to you. I noticed there were partts where the font was bigger or bolder.. As long as you can read what's going on, lol. **


	11. Chapter 10 - Expendable's mission

** So I do blieve it's time for an update! I won't lie, I was quite surprised that my last chapter was deeme so well, being so short that it was. I am still reading every message from everyone. I hope you enjoy this next chapter just as much ,it's a little longer. Thank you for reading.**

Chapter 10

By the late afternoon a couple of days later, a light drizzle accompanied the group. As they progressed into the mountains, that light drizzle grew heavier and heavier still. Once again they were soaked to the bone, as if they had jumped into a lake. Pulling hoods over their heads helped to keep most of the water from their eyes. But as the road went from dry dirt to water logged mud and moss, balancing became a chore too. The dwarves, with their heavy stomps and attire, slid into each other or another rock quite often. They muttered or shouted things in dwarvish both the hobbit and the survivor were glad they couldn't understand. Bilbo on the other hand, proved Gandalf right about hobbits being light on their feet. His leather soled feet allowed for better gripping on the ground. Alicia had a few slips too, but due to her better sense of balance, she was able to shift her body weight faster than the dwarves to help keep from sliding as much. Though a couple of times she had to grab on to someone's shoulder when some strong gust threatened to take her away. Dori seemed to make it a point to keep at least one of his hands free to catch the girl from blowing away. She didn't say a word the whole time they traveled, refusing to utter one word of annoyance. She rested when they rested, relieved herself when they did and kept as much like a mirror image or shadow to them as she could to keep up. She especially knew better to say anything when they came across a water channel that they had to cross, trying not to laugh at the dwarves calling her things like 'queer' and 'confounded skinny woman.'

The dwarves lumbered, slipped and hobbled through the water, using the rocks to grab onto or climb onto to try to hop across. Bilbo was able to stay on the rocks. Alicia found some other rocks that allowed her to cling to and make it across in a few hops from her long legs. Not all of them took her offered hand to help pull them out of the water. As the lightning flashed, she caught the scowls on their faces, making them look even more frightful. She gasped and jerked her hand back just as Kili was trying to reach for it. He stumbled in the water.

" Oh, sorry, I was losing my balance!" Alicia made up some excuse and quickly helped pull him out of the water.

Nori's hair, the ears on Bofur's hat, Gloin's defiant glare, and even Bifur's all too impassive and unblinking eyes stuck in her mind as the lightning flashed across everyone's faces.

Thorin let out a growl, " We cannot stay in this accursed rain all night. We must find some shelter somewhere. Fili, Kili, Ori, Alicia. You four scout ahead and look for a dry cave or someplace for us for the night."

After some time, Kili spotted an entrance ahead. " Look there! Does that look like a cave to you?!" He called out to be heard over the winds. Fili squinted his eyes and staggered his way closer. The others were not far behind. Sure enough, it was a dry cave.

" Here Ori, keep this light for us to find our way back. Kili and I will get the others." The blonde dwarf said as they left swiftly. The cave was pitch black inside, yet gave the feeling that it was very roomy. The survivor felt around the walls and ground to help determine its actual size. Ori just watched her nervously. Although he was trying not to be, it was painfully obvious.

The rest of the company was more than happy to be out of the rain, Gloin and Oin setting to work on a fire immediately. However, all the fuel they carried for a fire was soaking wet, and no matter their best efforts, barely a spark could be seen. This resulted in the brothers throwing fists at each other instead. Thorin didn't bother stopping them, thinking that the brawl would help warm up their bodies anyway. The company will just have to settle with laying their clothes out to dry with no fire tonight.

" Is there any way of searching the cave, just in case it's not just us in here?" Alicia muttered. Thorin agreed and the company searched the cave before getting too comfortable. They were, in fact, the only ones there. Not even bats were in this cave. Surprisingly, the dwarves' moods had brightened up again, clearly they just didn't like rain. They talked about what they would do with their shares of gold, which didn't seem like such a distant dream anymore. The rain even slowed down. Bombur cooked again and everything seemed alright again, until the winds had picked up, and the moaning became even louder. Alicia sighed and snuggled deeper into her cloak. She didn't feel near as nervous as before, though that could be because almost every time she picked her head up or moved too much, a hand would reach out to her and comfort her back to sleep. It made her feel a bit like a helpless child, but she was grateful for it in any case.

The rain picked up in the middle of the night, casting about by the wind. At one point the rain was just too strong for the company to leave in the morning, so Thorin let them sleep until it finally resided enough to venture out again. The sound of the rain lulled some of them to sleep again, even after they had been trudging all afternoon, but the water in their faces woke them up again. Everything that was happening now kept Alicia's mind off most of her previous nightmares, but the shadows that flashed here and there, combined with her over-active imagination kept her from being able to completely banish all her strange behavior, paranoia, or mood-swings. When some member of the company would get frustrated and grumble, she would wordlessly help them push on. Real love for friends doesn't always need words after-all. If a member fell and just wasn't able to get up yet, she would sit with them till they regained their strength and help them up. She still flinched from Bofur or someone else when shadows and angry shouts erupted from them. The rain continued on, freezing Alicia so bad, that not even the arduous climbing produced enough body heat to keep her warm. Her teeth chattered, her skin went pale, fingers shook and felt more like icicles, still she knew if she stopped, it would mean death. She thought back of a show she used to watch called 'Dual survival'. One of their first episodes had them trying to survive in a northern island somewhere and as they paddled in their life boat to shore, one of them said to the other, ' Keep rowing, it's the only heat we're getting right now.'

_'Well climbing is the only thing keeping me warm, gotta keep going!' _She coaxed herself.

Of course that was even harder to do when they came to a narrow strip where they were almost sideling the cliff wall.

" What kind of thunderstorm is this?!" Some dwarf yelled.

" This is no thunderstorm!" Balin yelled as he looked up. Fatigue and fear on his face. " This is a thunder battle!"

" Thunder…battle?" Alicia echoed and followed his pointed finger. " The hell?" A giant boulder looked as if it were just floating in mid-air for a moment until it smashed into the side of the cliff, causing a small avalanche to the side. She looked back up and saw human shaped creatures covered in rock. They made challenging motions to each other. Bilbo almost slipped off if it wasn't for Dwalin and Bofur grabbing him.

" Well bless me!" Bofur said in awe as he stood back up. " The legends are true! Giants! Stone Giants!"

He was suddenly grabbed by Kili and thrown to the side before he took a heavy blow to the head from a falling chunk of rock.

" Move! We must find shelter!" Thorin yelled as he led on.

Alicia wasn't so much afraid of the giants (stupidly enough), she was more afraid of slipping off to oblivion. She slipped one time and spider-crawled her way back. Fili grabbed hold of her, hauling her forward. " I've got you!" He said. She was pushed forward just in time before pieces of the path started crumbling away, forcing the company to huge the cliff again. Someone shouted and suddenly a huge tremor shook the company again. A large cracking sound split the cliff wall behind Alicia. She turned around to see the cliff divided in two and splitting from each other.

" It's splitting!" She yelled.

" Kili! Grab my hand!" Fili yelled, but it was too late. The mountain split so fast and moved like a pair of legs.

" This is a giant too!?" Alicia gawked. She hated the loud noises erupting from the fight, but the excitement of it all had her thin fingers warming back up in no time. But then she noticed how the company has split with no way of reaching each other. With her was Bilbo, Dwalin, Bofur, Fili, Ori, and Bombur. They all clung to the cliff/shin, their weapons, and each other. The swaying motion was like an amusement park ride and she smiled at it all. Fili and Bofur on her right gawked at her when she started giggling. Ori looked at her with an expression of pure fear, Bilbo looked at her with a mixture of fear and confusion, and Dwalin shook his head in disbelief, " She's lost her mind!" He yelled. To them, her expression looked entirely too much like madness.

As they swung around, the rest of the company on the other side watched them with boundless concern. Then the girl, riding by with one hand out, a wide grin on her face, laughing all the while, had their worry dancing with confusion. The stone giant they were on was hit with a rock so hard that it knocked his head clean off.

The girl still laughing, grabbed Fili and pulled him down, shielding him with her body. She glanced at her other friends, her smile threatening to rip her face apart when she saw the look on Bofur's face. Bilbo wasn't looking any better either. Dwalin and Ori couldn't even scream they were so shell shocked.

Thorin and the dwarves with him let out moans of despair, name shouts as they watched the others take a turn towards another cliff wall. There was a nightmarish crunch as the two rock formations made contact. The stone giant was dead and his body fell to the deep ravine below, but not before Thorin's group was able to scramble to another ledge.

" Fili! No!" Thorin yelled in panic as he bolted down the ledge, the others on his heels. Relief washed over them when they saw the others piled on each other, groaning from the impact.

As Bofur staggered back to his feet, he looked around frantically, " Where's Bilbo?!" Relief was short lived when they leaned over and saw him, too scared to scream out, hanging over the ledge.

Alicia was there in a second, reaching down as far as she could for him. Just as she made to grab him, the hobbit's hand slipped out of her reach.

" Grab my legs!" She yelled and felt strong hands grab her ankles as she lowered herself even more. She was able to grab his wrists, but couldn't pull him up, and she cursed herself for her weakened state. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thorin. He also dangled on the side but was secured by Dwalin's strong grip. He swung over and hoisted the hobbit up, which in turn allowed for the dwarves to hoist Alicia up. The hobbit was pulled between Ori and Bofur as he caught his breath. Alicia was on her hands and knees by Gloin who kept a firm grip on her shoulder, giggled and spitting rainwater as she watched the hobbit and two dwarves. Bofur looked and jerked around like a scared squirrel watching for a dog, Ori was just trying to catch his breath as was Bilbo. The hobbit looked at her as if she'd just sprouted wings.

" I don't see anything amusing about this miss Alicia!" Bilbo cried.

" I thought we lost our burglar." Dwalin stated as they got back up.

Thorin turned and eyed the hobbit with discontent. " He's been lost ever since he left home, so has she!" That had the girl and hobbit looking up at the dwarf king. " They should never have come. They have no place amongst us!"

" You have no place at all." Alicia growled unexpectedly. Her light-hearted mood vanished completely, replaced by a feral snarl on her face. Thorin stopped and turned back to her.

" What did you say?"

The survivor steadily got back to her feet, glaring at Thorin, straightening to her full five foot nine height.

" I said you have no place at all." She repeated evenly.

The dwarf leader turned all the way around and began to stomp towards her. To the company's surprise she met him more than half way, but neither backed down. " How dare you speak to me that way." Thorin warned back.

" How dare you undermine the sacrifice Bilbo has made for you." Alicia retorted. " Bilbo _has_ a stable home and he WILLINGLY walked away from it all to help YOU, and all your men. Your men WILLINGLY answered your call and would WILLINGLY die for you to get what YOU want! Never disregard someone who would pay that kind of price for another. I wouldn't leave that behind." In a very soldier like tone she spoke her mind to the king.

Never before has she spoken out against him either, Thorin didn't know whether to slap her or salute her. After all, he couldn't deny the truth and passion that she spoke with.

" We need to find a safe place out of the rain before the path gives way again." Balin called out, interrupting their feud.

Thorin knew that was most important right now too. Slowly he backed away. With a scoff he turned on his heel, calling for Dwalin and led his company forward.

Alicia snorted a cloud of air from her nostrils and followed wordlessly. She felt a hand wrap around her wrist. It was Bilbo.

" Thank you." He whispered to her, gratitude and love in his eyes. The girl bent down and hugged her hobbit friend so tight that she felt a pop somewhere on his spine. _Oh, now I have some strength!_

She teased herself and allowed the hobbit to pass by first.

After a few more awkwardly silent trudges, Dwalin found a cave that was dry and big enough for them all to fit and stretch out. They eagerly trudged inside, ringing out excess water, throwing down their packs and falling on the ground themselves in pure exhaustion.

Gloin got down on his knees and rubbed his hands together, " Now, time for a fire!"

" No." Thorin stopped him, " No fires tonight. I do not want unwelcome eyes to know we're here. We rest, then continue on as fast as we can to get out if here. Bofur, you take watch."

The hatted dwarf's face and shoulders dropped. He watched sadly as the others found comfortable spots they claimed as beds. No one was calmed down enough to close their eyes yet however.

Kili looked around, " Where did Alicia go again?" He whispered to Fili. Alicia had all but vanished, her bag was still here.

" She'll turn up again like she always does." Fili smiled and sat back. Oin pulled out some ointment for Bifur who suffered a gash on his arm.

Nori pulled out his pipe, " Well, I think now's a good time for a little merriment." He said with a smile.

" Anyone got any good stories to tell?" Most of them looked to Balin or Bilbo. The two looked at each other.

" What about our warg rider?" Oin suggested. Many of them nodded in agreement, save for a few who already knew some details, blanched.

" Only if yer up fer a scary story." Dwalin chuckled.

As if on cue, the girl showed back up, silent and expressionless, until she saw everyone else looking at her. " What's going on?"

" You've been voted to tell the first story dear heart!" Dori announced.

" What?" Her confused face was priceless and all the company laughed. Thorin merely huffed. " I'm not very good at telling stories. Balin on the other hand.."

The old dwarf cut her off, " Not tonight I'm afraid. I think someone else should take a turn too."

" Who's idea was it? They should tell the story then. I wouldn't even know where to begin." The girl mumbled.

" Come now. Everyone has something to say. It doesn't have to be perfect." Gloin encouraged.

" Talk about a legend." Oin suggested.

" A lesson?" said Dwalin.

" A funny tale perhaps?" Bombur asked.

" Or a dream you want to happen." Ori said.

Alicia looked very apprehensive.

" Sweet heart, there are no strangers here." Bofur interrupted. " No one here will judge, it'll be just like in Rivendell when you sang for Bombur and I. All for fun, no good or bad stories exist."

"Hmm. Well…" Alicia began to think.

" Ghiv uz dhuzg unz burg'then!" Bifur ordered.

Bofur slowly nodded. " Uh, aye. Tell us a bit about your home. Your life before coming here."

" My home and life. Alright. Well, let's start about two years ago, before everything went crazy. I was a college student studying computer animation, which is a type of cartooning basically; that was not only used for entertainment, but advertising, educational demonstrations, surgical procedures to environmental modeling. You with me so far?"

" Uh, so it was a type of art that was used for more than just beauty." Ori summarized.

" Yes, exactly that. I myself enjoyed making environments, I also did a little bit of surgical animations later. But it was a fall back career that I was using to help get me into the main career choice, Film Directing. This was also a type of entertainment. But this was like getting a massive team together to put on a play. Though not only would you perform for the people in that area, but the play would be recorded so that it could be shared with people all around the world. It was like moving portraits."

The company, even Thorin looked at her, eyes big and leaning towards her.

" Moving portraits? Like magic?" Bombur asked.

" No." The company murmured. " We don't have any magic where I come from at all. Everything was done by normal people. Well, the only people there are humans. We didn't have dwarves, hobbits, elves, etcetera where I'm from, only humans with a desire for discovery. We created such advanced technology that it would seem like magic to someone who didn't know any better. Can you imagine, vehicles that replaced horses and can move a hundred miles an hour, buildings made of steel and glass that stood five hundred feet in the air. We had airplanes that looked like metal birds that flew us from one side of the earth to the other. We even touched our moon." Alicia made hand gestures to accentuate her words. She pause for effect. The dwarves with a mixture of awe and doubt hung on her every word.

" Yer pullin' our legs." Dwalin said.

" I'm not at all friend. Imagine how shocked I was when I first clapped eyes on Middle Earth. Everything here doesn't exist outside a fairytale in my home." Then she remembered her ipod. She dug into her bag and pulled out a little device and head phones. " This little thing is just one of many inventions we came up with. It's called an Ipod. It stores music, videos, and photos for the user." She demonstrated the headset then pulled it out and aloud the ipod to play on it's internal speaker. The company looked on and listened to the song that played which she chose a Celtic instrumental for them. She passed it around and watched be musingly at how the dwarves fiddled with it and switched songs or videos and pictures.

" If your world was so brilliant, what happened to it now?" Thorin asked. He squinted at the strange device and passed it onto Balin.

Alicia's voice lost a little of it's enthusiasm. " To this day, no one knows exactly how or who started it. Most clues point to a dirty bio bomb. Which is biological warfare, I'm sure some of you heard this part already. Of course it killed people nearest the bombs when they exploded, but as for others who didn't die but were still too close, they got infected. As a nickname, some of us called it the Z virus, which didn't activate or bother the host until the person died. If their brains weren't destroyed, then they would come back as walking corpses to eat the living."

" Uh, We've already heard about those horrible monsters." Bombur interrupted. " I for one wouldn't mind not hearing about the mutant ones again. Perhaps we can skip that part?"

There were many nods of agreement at this.

" Good. There was one more virus that spread, this one was caused because some people were trying to reverse the Z virus, but they only made a slightly different one instead. It's simply called the C virus, C as in Crazy. This one affected the hosts as they were still living. It caused them to go, well, insane. People who were infected were called Crazies. Most common signs of a Crazy were unusual acts the person would otherwise not commit, lack of humanity, unpredictable and violent behavior, and the most obvious sign, black veins snaking across their bodies. Some resulted in cannibalism, marauding, or killing each other and zombies alike. Weird thing is, as a Crazy, the person is still alive by all means, but zombies don't mess with them _as much_ as a regular person. Why that is, we don't know completely yet. But, there is a cure for the C virus."

Some members of the company released held breaths, while others remained still.

" Well, what is it?" Oin asked anxiously.

" Therapy." Alicia answered. " Things that remind the crazed person of who they are, what they love, and why they're here. Also keeping them as un-involved with aggressive activities as possible until their cured. Making sure they eat when they're supposed too 'cuz some would stop easting sometimes. Ugh, in a nutshell, nursing them for a while, long enough for their bodies to flush out the virus themselves."

" This was two years ago? What did you do since then?" Fili asked.

" What ever it took to survive. My hometown was evacuated. The stores were raided and shut down. My family and friends, we got together and headed for the lake. It was our best bet for survival if it wasn't overrun already. Our first lake house we stayed in didn't last long. Zombies just kept coming left and right, we had to give it up. We tried a place in the woods by a river. It was nice, till marauders were getting too close. Sneaking out of there unseen was not easy either. When they finally saw us, three of my group died before our military experts and dirty fighters confused the marauders and put an end to them. We took whatever supplies we could carry and found a farm. We took the remaining livestock for our own and finally found a secure lake house neighborhood where we could defend and colonize. In the middle of the lake was a small island we could retreat to if we ever had to leave. We decided to call it 'Blue Hope'."

Dwalin shook his head, " So you lost your home three times before settling down in Blue Hope."

" Yes."

" And you lost your entire family on your journey, to the zombies." Oin said sadly. Alicia nodded.

" Everyone split into jobs and areas that they had the most knowledge in. I was in charge of livestock, farming, and hunter/gatherer. When I wasn't home with the animals, I was setting traps, fishing and making runs to gather any supplies from abandoned towns."

She didn't like how sad and depressing she just made everyone, so she smiled as brightly as she could,

" But we survived, and some cities are still up and running. Life is slowly re-stabilizing. We're doing much better now. I mean, there's always the chance that Blue Hope will be taken from us too, and we will pick up and move to another home again if we have to, but we'll survive just like we've been doing."

The way the company looked at her made very painfully self-conscious, but the fact that she saw no hate for her made her ease a bit. Bilbo reached for her hand, holding it tight in his.

Thorin straightened up, " You humans may be able to give up on things so easily, but dwarves are not so easily swayed. We fight and defend what's ours to the last breath, as we will for Erebor. That is our home, our only home and we _will_ have it back." Thorin turned away after saying that. It frustrated him even more that he got no reaction from her. He had a grudging respect for her but an outrage towards her as well. Her story might have implanted doubt in his men!

" If I've learned anything being in Middle Earth so far, it's that there's no such thing as 'impossible'." Alicia stated, trying her best to hide her hurt feelings behind a mask of calm. She smiled in an attempt to comfort the company's mixed emotions etched on their faces. " You don't have zombies to deal with. You'll get your home back and live the lives you've worked so hard for. It's not like the dragon just _relocated_ the entire mountain itself! It's still there, for you." The dwarves shared a quiet moment.

Balin cleared his throat, " So another piece of our mysterious lady Alicia has been revealed to us. Thank you for sharing your story with us."

" Thank you all for honoring me with your stories! And you don't have to call me 'Lady'. " Alicia grinned a broad smile.

Bofur laughed, " Ya hear that lads? The _lady_ is _'honored'_ by our stories!" Clearly, the hatted dwarf and those who laughed did not view themselves as highly as the girl did. She just smiled her natural, devious smile at them.

Sleep finally fell over the company and they all slumped to the floor. Balin sighed heavily as he shifted a little. He felt someone's gaze upon him and met the girl's eyes. His face broke into another smile. She suddenly got up and wrapped the scholarly dwarf in a huge hug. By now he was no longer surprised by the survivor's actions, for throughout their journey, she made it quite clear that she loved hugs.

She disengaged quickly and went to lay back down near Bilbo. As Balin got comfortable he just realized that he didn't hug back.

Bilbo opened his eyes again and looked around. Everyone seemed to be drunk asleep. Good. As quietly as he could, he got up and repacked his bed and supplies. He checked his pockets to make sure everything was with him. Once everything was in order, he carefully tip-toed around the dwarves. He eased his way over Gloin's feet. He heard movement behind him and turned to see Alicia as wide awake him, throwing on her bag, picking up her own walking stick that Bofur and Bifur made her, and following him. He will have to talk to her when they are out of earshot. With a sigh, he turned back around and stepped between Dori and Dwalin, making Dori flinch from accidentally nudging his booted feet. Just as he made it clear from the group, he was stopped by the watch on duty.

" Where do you think you're going?" Bofur asked as he bolted up. " Wha-where are you BOTH going?"

The hobbit silently sighed again, put on his most serious face and looked at Bofur in the eye. " Back to Rivendell."

" No. no no no no." The dwarf dreaded as he got caught got in between Bilbo and Alicia. " You can't turn back now, you're part of the company. You're one of us."

" I'm not now am I?" Bilbo retorted. Bofur's face was a mask of confusion. " Thorn said I shouldn't have come here and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door."

" You're home-sick. I understand-"

" No you don't understand! None of you do, you're dwarves! You're used to this life!" Bilbo gestured to the cave. Bofur straightened back up, crest-fallen. "-to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!" Alicia had an indifferent look on her face as she listened.

Bofur looked as if he'd just been slapped in the face and was about to cry. Bilbo realized the words he said. " Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it-"

" No, no you're right." The hatted dwarf interrupted. He looked back to his group for a moment before turning back to Bilbo. " We don't belong anywhere." He was reminded of Alicia's presence when she suddenly snorted in irritation.

" Your home is wherever your heart is and if that's Erebor, then that is your home. You all belong wherever you want to be." She hissed at him.

Bofur watched her for a moment. He smiled sadly to her. " Thank you lass. Are you leaving us too then?"

The woman looked to Bilbo, who returned his unsure gaze. " You're like the kid sister I never had, but you shouldn't leave on my account. At least you've been helpful to the group."

She scoffed at him, " Bilbo, you're the reason they are able to start this journey. They needed a burglar, not some wayward vagabond woman. I'm expendable. Besides, You're the one who took care of me in my time of need. I'm going with you."

The hobbit nodded gratefully at her after recovering from the way she defined herself. Bofur looked between the two, unsure of what else to say to convince them to leave. So he smiled his famous grin, patting them both on the shoulder.

" I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do."

The girl wrapped the dwarf in her longs arms and planted a kiss on his cheek. " Thank you for everything Bofur."

The dwarf couldn't help but hug back, " It makes me heart ache to see ya both go like this. Take care of yourselves." Reluctantly, he let her go.

The hobbit and woman took two more steps before a tremble rumbled through the cave.

" What was that?" Bofur asked. Bofur looked at us then he pointed to Bilbo's sword. The hobbit half drew it and the sword was glowing blue.

Suddenly Thorin shot up and scrambled to his feet. " Wake up!" He shouted and looked to the ground. Sand fell through invisible cracks. " Wake up! All of you!" His urgent cry echoed throughout the cave, causing hearts to jolt and bodies to fumble over each other.

The next thing no one expected to happen. The entire floor opened downward, dropping the company entirely.

Underneath the platform was a huge slide that swirled the company around at a dizzying speed. They screamed, cursed scratched and groped for some sort of foot hold, but the slide was too smooth. Alicia would have enjoyed this ride too had she not been spinning around so much. They fell over each other as they plummeted to the unseen ground, till finally, they were spat out and dropped into some kind of cage. She braced for impact, landing on top Dori and Gloin, then Nori landing on top her then rolled over. Finally came Bombur rolling down and Bilbo after him.

" Woah! Who's up for round two?" She joked to herself as she tried to get up. Dwalin was on her right leg however.

" Alicia!" Fili yelled. " Are you alright?!"

" A little dizzy but I'm fine. How you holding up?"

" I, what?" Fili stuttered.

" Are you alright? How's Kili?"

" Here! Kili shouted. " I'm well!"

Satisfied, She closed her eyes a moment to get her head to stop swimming. Her head fell atop the back of Dori's head who squirmed and coughed under her. " Oh God, I'm so sorry Mr. Dori! Gloin, you okay?" She pulled her leg free and tried to get off of the dwarves.

The large cavern came alive with whoops and hollers of scratchy voices. Looking around, the cave walls crawled as if they were alive, and strange creatures scrambled towards the company. As they got closer, she saw just hoe repulsive the creatures were! They were about the height of her hobbit friend/brother with broken, jagged teeth poking out in all directions. Their eyes, reminding her of anime style animation where the eyes of characters are seventy percent of their faces, highly disproportionate to the faces. Grimy skin with tones that ranged from bright tan to dark brown and clothes that made South American tribesmen look modest. Some wore dis-functional armor and carried obviously stolen weapons. They climbed from the ceilings, from underneath them, from random crevices in the thousands as they advanced, some even knocking each other of the paths just to reach the group." Ugh! What are those things?!" She asked.

" Goblins." Thorin answered as he tried to get up.

" What?!" Alicia couldn't believe what she just heard. She watched, stupefied as they hurled themselves at the company. One jumped over the first three and groped for her, but before it's bony hands could touch her, Gloin shot up seemingly out of nowhere with a fierce roar. His eyes glittered with the rage of wildfire. The dwarf's hand wrapped around the goblin's throat with an iron grip so tight that with one hard jerk, the goblin went limp, it's neck broken.

Dori got on all fours under her, but she didn't notice. She watched as Gloin kept himself between her and the on-coming goblins, shouting things like ' You'll die before touching her', ' Get back in your holes'. There was a cry of pain from another member, Fili. The cry snapped her out of her stare, something inside her snapping as well. Inspired by Gloin's battle fury, she pulled out her dagger, swung back and bit into the goblin's neck before it could hit Fili again.

Now a wave of goblins tumbled over them. She pulled out the other dagger and used Dori as a spring board to launch herself to the left, at the same time slicing at clambering goblins. Oin's back was turned to her on the left, which she stepped on to keep above the others and cut down goblins that were jumping up as well. As a goblin came her way, her arms crossed, making the blades scissor-cut it's head off. As she landed near Bifur, she brought her blades up and over, then downward, impaling two more goblins of the ground. She has been watching WAY too many gladiator shows and now it's starting to show… or pay off. She continued her onslaught, spinning on her feet to help clear a path in the front. Her face contorted into wild rage as she hit target after target. This gave the company a chance to recover and help fight the goblins off.

But then there was a blow to her head and one to her stomach. Her weapons were wrenched from her hands and she was knocked to the ground. She wasn't done fighting though, and she kicked, scratched, and punched as much as she could until they finally subdued her and the company. She tried to will away the headache she developed as well. Bifur fought his way to her and used his body to shield her as best he could until the goblins had them all separated. They shoved the company roughly to their feet and pushed them onwards down rickety bridges.

The girl's face was tensed, with wide glaring eyes as if she was about to explode. The dwarves continued to knock as many off the bridges as they were taken deeper into the hollowed caverns. Everything inside was tied together with rope and wood. Nothing was built to look nice, just function until it broke. Thousands of little fires dotted the walls as the goblins made screeching noises at the company. They were escorted to another very large platform where disgusting hacking and coughing could be heard.

They were even more repulsed at the site of what was on the large platform when they reached it.

On a crudely made throne of wood, bone, leather and rope, sat the biggest of all the goblins. A fat creature with a few amputated fingers and a foot, with warts, pimples, blisters decorating it's entire body. Some jiggled with its belly, some popped and oozed puss as the creature moved. It's eyes constantly had the 'snake eye' glare, where one eye was hugely wider than the other, and under its chin flopped a grotesque and large flap of skin taking the role of a normal beard. The goblin king, no doubt, had a crude crown of bone, leather and wood on his head and in his left hand was a large scepter of the same material with the skull of some great horned goat on top of it. As the company was pushed together onto the platform, the goblins began picking at them, pulling away any obvious weapons from their grasp and cast onto a corner in front of the huge goblin. Alicia curled into fetal position to help protect her hidden weapons and to be less noticeable. A pile of smaller goblins lay beneath the feet of the leader, which the giant goblin used as steps to get down from his tall throne. Those goblins had the breath squished out of them yet they seemed to be happy about it.

The huge goblin slid down, shaking the platform and putting his face into the company's. " Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Theives? Assasins?" The great goblin screeched.

" Dwarves, your malevolence! And this big female!" A goblin answered from the front. " We found them on the front porch!"

"Dwarves? Well, don't just stand there," The great goblin responded. " Search them! Every craft, every crevice!" The great goblin smiled maliciously. As commanded, they did. The goblins scratched at the company, they pulled off Oin's hear trumpet, they found a couple of Nori's hidden knives. Alicia lost her sword, daggers, and bag. Once they were finished, the goblin turned back.

" What are you doing in these parts?" Where are you coming from and where are you going to?" He demanded. No one made a move or said anything. Alicia looked up and saw Kili move in front of her protectively. " Very well! If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring up the mangler! The bone breaker! Start with the youngest." The goblin king received howls of excitement and approval from his minions. He turned back to the company, scanning over them.

Ori blanched when the goblin king pointed to him.

" Wait!" Thorin yelled from the back and made his way forward.

" Well well WELL! Look who it is! Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror. King under the mountain!" The huge goblin made a mock bow and straightened up, " But I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain, and you're not a king, which makes you…nobody really."

" Thorin glared at the goblin. He said nothing as he tried to keep his temper under control.

The huge goblin leaned down a little closer. " I know someone who would pay a pretty price for head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak. An old enemy of yours, the pale orc astride the white warg."

Thorin looked at him in disbelief. " Azog the Defiler died of his wounds long ago!"

" So you think his defiling days are done do you?" The giant goblin laughed and turned to another very puny and crippled goblin on some sort of swing. It was writing down a message.

_Huh, these things know how to write._ Alicia thought.

" Send word to the pale orc. Tell him I have found his prize." The king ordered.

The messenger goblin pulled a lever and zip-lined away as it laughed. He turned back to the group scratching his face. " Hmm. Am I missing anything?"

" This one here!" A minion screeched and tried to pull Alicia away. He was answered with a hard kick to the face. More goblins took his place and swarmed the girl as she tried to fight back, but they eventually overpowered her and dragged her to the front. Not before a few tumbled off the platform or got a broken bone. To Alicia, they were surprisingly feeble, especially the gaunt ones of course.

" Oh Ho! So this must be the _big female_ eh? She is obviously no dwarf! Perhaps that's why they keep her, to enjoy more exotic pleasures that women can provide? Bwahahaha!"

This sent shivers down the woman's spine. She didn't like at all what he was implying.

Minions were scattered from her punches or pushed off the platform as they pulled her forward. She had an uncharacteristic calm with eyes that spoke of a promise of death. " Ah, let's start with this one instead shall we?" Kili was beaten back again by the goblins, so was Fili who tried to defend his brother. They both glared even more hatefully at the giant goblin, who paid no mind to their glowering.

" Who are you? What business do you have with dwarves?"

When she didn't immediately answer, a goblin prodded her, but then that goblin received a broken nose from her fist suddenly lashing out. It tumbled back into its friends behind it. The goblin got angry and attacked her, and quickly another brawl broke out. The goblin king grew impatient. He yanked a whip from his chair and struck her.

A sharp bark emitted from Alicia as she flinched from a second hit.

" Answer me!"

The girl shrugged, " Nonya."

"…."

"Nonya Business."

" How did you get here?"

" By falling ."

" Where are you going with the dwarves?"

" To a tea party."

The giant goblin stared at her as if she turned blue and spat out rainbows. Then a disgusting smile stretched across his face and he leaned back and howled in laughter. " This one has some wit I see! I have a better idea. Beat the dwarves and save this one for me." The goblin minions howled in excitement. They began to beat and whip Thorin and his company. The goblin king made to grab the woman, but she dodged his hand like a game of whack-a-mole three times before finally catching her and nearly squeezing the breath out of her. He began to sing and dance.

" Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung! You'll be beaten and battered, from racks you'll be hung!" The woman swung around in his hand and he enjoyed half-suffocating her. " You'll die down here and never be found! Down in the deep of Goblin Town-AGH!" He tossed the woman to the ground and examined his hand. There was a deep cut in his palm. He glowered at the girl and laughed mockingly at her attempt to defy him. She cut open the one of the nearest goblins that whipped Thorin and his company with a small black blade that no one had any idea where it was hidden.

Suddenly some other puny goblin screamed horrifically by the pile of weapons, catching the king's attention. Then the king began to cower and climb back up his throne.

" I know that sword!" He cowered. " It is the goblin cleaver! The sword that sliced many of us down our necks! Kill them! Kill all of them!"

Alicia snorted amusingly at the king's behavior, as if the sword was just going to rise up by itself and cut him down his neck! Before another wave of goblins came, quick as lightning there was a blinding flash of light accompanied by a strong gust that blew away most of the goblins and knocked the goblin king off the platform. When the light dulled down and everyone could see, there stood Gandalf the Grey.

" Take up arms." He said to the company. " Fight! FIGHT!" and the fire was rekindled.

The dwarves threw off any remaining goblins and rushed to their weapons. Alicia's belongs were thrust back into her hands the dwarves let out roaring battle cries. But that's when she noticed something and a look of horror stayed on her face. There are only dwarves here, where is Bilbo?!

" Alicia! This way, hurry!" Dwalin grabbed her and pushed her towards the rest of the company as they followed Gandalf's lead.

Dwalin and Nori ran in front of Gandalf to meet the oncoming horde of goblins that came in front.

The two slashed, hacked and stabbed at the goblins, clearing the path for the others. Nori showed off his skill with his daggers, Dwalin showed off his battle prowess as they ran along the bridge.

Dwalin stopped, looked back and yelled 'POST'! Alicia had no idea what he meant by that.

Luckily the other dwarves did, and they cut off a post at the side of the bridge. Pulling it up and cleverly using it to knock off the goblins, the dwarves cleared the path again. The path split and half the company went on an upper bridge while the others clearing the way on the main bridge, Alicia took the upper path. Alicia copied Nori's example with her own daggers as she cut down more goblins.

Gandalf had swordsmanship skills of his own. He put them to good use against any unfortunate goblins.

Alicia followed behind Balin and in front of Fili as they raced to rejoin the main group across a ledge. Since she had to keep moving so quick, Alicia put up her daggers and pulled out her katana. This allowed for longer reach and more lethal quick blows. The goblins had about as much regard in strategy and defense as a horde of zombies.

She let her mind fall into 'mercenary' mode, where she focused on nothing but the mission at hand. She did glimpse at Thorin a couple of times, awed by his skill with his blade. He whirled and pivoted like a master and no goblin ever touched him again.

Gloin used a balance of brute strength and precise cuts with his axe. Nori relied mostly on surprise and speed. Alicia and Balin were separated, she panicked about not being able to reach him before a goblin blade did. However, her worry was misplaced, for the old dwarf was like a master Yoda to her.

He stopped, spun around then spun his sword almost acrobatically at the minions, grunting as the sword made contact. No goblin would be touching him so easily either.

The goblins overwhelmed her again. Alicia tried to step away and swung her katana wildly, but the sword was pulled from her grasp, landing on the floor beneath them. However, the woman was not finished, she put her martial arts skills to use. She saw Bofur and Nori running under the platform too. Bofur smacked faces with his trusty mattock, and Nori backed him up with his blades and mace. Ori was given a hammer which he fought off goblins in his own effective way. Breaking bone, using the momentum of one blade to skewer another goblin she eventually broke free.

Panic rose in her again, her companions were way ahead! She might never catch up with them.

Oin found his way to Balin and offered back-up by swinging around his staff. This reminded the survivor of a cowboy at a rodeo. Bombur had goblins crawling all over him like ants, until he body slammed onto a bridge that knocked many minions down and reunited him with the others. She hurried to catch up with them, using her long legs to propel her forward. Her sword was no longer there when she climbed down, this made her grievous, she really liked that sword. Alicia was still on the wrong bridge however. At some points, the dwarves were above her, then across from her. Next they were below her. Alicia found a rope, cut it loose and swung down like some Indiana jones. She didn't prepare herself ahead of time and the drooping swing scared her. It looked as if she was too low for a moment before it swung up, right into Bombur's waiting arms. He caught her easily and ushered her forwards. " Hurry, hurry!" He sputtered, fear reflecting in his own eyes as he gripped his hammer.

She heard Thorin yell, " Cut the ropes!" And the dwarves hacked at the ropes tying a platform to the cave wall. The platform fell away, catching a group of goblins copying Alicia's rope ride and entangling them as they fell to the depths. Kili found a ladder that he used to bridge the gap for them to cross onto the next pile of tied up wood. Onward, further they went until they could go no more due to yet another very large gap. Gandalf almost fell. Thorin cut the ropes again and the bridge broke away into a giant swing. Alicia grabbed onto a rope to keep from falling off. The dwarves yelled as they swung.

" Jump!" Thorin yelled. The first few dwarves jumped onto the cliff ledge. As they swing went back, goblins hopped onto the swing. Dwalin and Alicia met them head on, knocking them back off the swing. Dwalin grabbed her arm again as the swing went forward, he grabbed her and tossed her off before jumping himself. Alicia yelped but was caught by Gloin and Oin. Fili chopped down the swing before he jumped off. Again they ran, but on safer ground this time, Alicia engaged her martial arts skills as they ran. She stole various weapons from one attacker and planted it in another. Her back felt hot, as well as her arms felt like water splashed on them, she assumed it was the sweat running down her body; she had no time to look now.

Gandalf blasted a boulder off the roof and sent it rolling down in front of them. Another effective way of clearing the path! Dori protected the left flank with his flail, crushing bone every time he made contact.

Finally, the exit appeared and the company put on one last burst of speed to get to it.

Out from the bottom of the bridge, the goblin king burst forward. Ori and Gloin pulled up short just in time and back-peddled out of the way.

" You thought you could escape me!" The goblin king mused. He swung his scepter at the wizard, knocking him back. Ori and Nori caught him and righted him.

" What are you going to do now wizard?!" He pounded the bridge with his scepter again. Ori, Dori and Nori, pushed Gandalf forward. Gandalf used the length of his own staff to stab the Goblin king in the eye. The king flailed and groaned, then Gandalf made a deep slice across the gut of the Great Goblins belly. The great goblin roared again before falling onto his knees.

Both Gandalf and the goblin had perplexed looks on their faces before the goblin grunted, " That'll do it."

With one more swing, the wizard slit the goblin king's throat. The body slammed onto the rickety bridge, making it break and tremble. Finally, the bridge collapsed. Sliding and falling down, barely holding it's original form. Alicia's ears filled with screaming dwarves, but the descent was so fast that it muffled their screams a bit. She braced for impact by Bofur. He had fallen on his rear, hanging on for dear life at a corner. Bifur slid backwards, trying to find something to grab before her fell off. Alicia lunged for him and wrapped all her free limbs around the next post she ran into, pulling Bifur to her as much as she could. Her stomach got butterflies and she couldn't tell if her eyes closed were scarier or eyes open. She had a good view of the descent and just watched half laughing, half crying. The crevice narrowed till the bridge wedged itself stuck, broken planks and rope dropping everywhere. Alicia groaned from the impact and willed herself to finally let go of Bifur. Clumsily, she staggered out and sat next to Bofur.

Bofur got on all fours and peered out at everyone. " Well that coulda' been worse!" He smiled optimistically.

Alicia suddenly looked at him with and expression of alarm, then jumped down and scrambled away from him swiftly to stand by Gandalf. He watched her curiously. "Wha-"

The dead body of the goblin king fell on top of them without warning, crushing the remaining company under its dead weight.

" You've got to be joking!" Dwalin grumped. He climbed back to his feet.

Kili gasped in relief. He looked up from some strange noise and his eyes grew big. " Gandalf!" He pointed up as he scrambled to get him and Bombur out. The giant hordes of goblins were crawling down the cliff walls to get to them again! Alicia rushed back to help pull Ori and Bifur out as Dwalin pulled Nori up.

" There's too many! We can't fight them!" Dwalin yelled.

" Only one thing can save us now!" Gandalf answered. " Daylight! Come on!" He pulled Oin out and ushered him forward. Balin popped up behind him and scrambled to his feet to follow the others.

Alicia looked back, making sure everyone got out and praying that Bilbo would pop up like Balin did out of the rubble. Alas, it never happened and it made Alicia's stomach and heart race.


	12. Chapter 11 - My Immortality

**Here it is. The final chapter of the movie, though I threw in a few parts from the book too just for fun. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I have been debating whether I should wait till the next movie comes out, or go ahead and write the next chaters. I honestly want to wait for the next movie, it will also give me more time to write more chapters. (Tell me what you think about that) Anyway, I want to again thank you all for reading, reviewing and helping me with ideas for the future. I loved wriing this story for you to read! I hope you enjoy! (^_^)**

The company sped out of the caves like there was no tomorrow. If they didn't there probably wouldn't be one for them. No one looked back or stopped to breathe. They ran off until Gandalf finally began to slow by a ridge. He counted out loud the dwarves as they passed by.

" Oin, Gloin, Dori, Ori Nori, Dwalin, Bifur Bombur, Balin, Thorin, Bofur, Fili, and Kili… That makes thirteen. We're all in one piece then?" The wizard asked.

The dwarves could only nod at the moment, too out of breath to answer. Gandalf huffed, he kept looking around, then turned about faster. " Where is she?"

It took a moment for them to realize, but then the worry spread over them.

Bifur said something that Bombur translated, " Aye, she was just here!"

" I saw her with you! You've gone and lost her?!" Gloin accused. The cousins only scowled at him, Bifur growled threateningly.

Nori reached to his back and removed the sword he saw the girl have. He gave it to Gandalf wordlessly.

" Can't… stop… Too… fast!" Alicia called from higher up the hill. She had a stressed look on her face as her arms flailed about for balance. She showed no signs of stopping. " Slope….too steep…. Incoming!" She yelped as she ran clear off a small ledge, pitched forward head-over-feet and rolled the rest of the way to the company landing in a jumble to the side to be stopped by Fili and Kili. " Oooh… I hate everythiiiing…." She panted in a grumbling voice that sounded similar to and frustrated Dwalin. This made some of the dwarves chuckle.

Kili dropped next to her trying to gently sit her up. " Alicia! Thank Mahal you're alright!"

" Well, I wouldn't say alright, but alive she is! That's good!" Bofur stated looking at her new wounds.

Oin's eye twitched when he saw her cut up arms and back of her clothing soaked in blood and gore.

She raised her hands up wearily as if to block from being hit. " Stop…spinning Kili… I can't….focus with you…. multiplying everywhere."

This made the company almost howl with laughter as Kili's face turned red. Even his brother slightly blushed and elbowed him teasingly. Gandalf huffed amusingly. He looked around at everyone and rolled his eyes before turning back to Alicia. She was the only one who didn't laugh.

Usually, she would laugh too. Instead, she looks like she's about to cry, her eyes were glassy from extra moisture. She slumped back down as if defeated. " What's wrong? Oin can heal these wounds too, don't worry." The young archer said. Judging by her little reaction, that's not what bothered her. " Alicia. Speak to me. Is there something I can do?" He said in her ear.

Her breathing went erratic for a quick moment before she was able to steel herself again. " Bilbo…" She whispered.

" Bilbo?..." Kili repeated. It finally dawned on him that their burglar wasn't there.

" Yes." Gandalf agreed. " Where is our hobbit?" No one answered. " Where is Bilbo?!" He asked more fervently.

" No one saw him at all?" Oin asked

" Curse the hobbit!" Dwalin roared. " Now _he's_ lost! I thought He was still with Dori who was charged with him!"

" Don't blame me!" Dori argued back.

" Well, where did you last see him? I wish to goodness you had not lost him!" Gandalf questioned.

" He has been more trouble than use so far." Dwalin answered again. " If we have to go back into those abominable tunnels to look for him, then drat him I say."

Gandalf replied angrily, " I brought him and I don't bring things that are of no use! Why didn't you hold onto him Dori?"

The normally flamboyant dwarf scoffed and stood as if losing his dignity, "You would have lost your grip on him too if you fell down a winding hole, kicked and beaten by goblins, whipped and flung around on their poor excuses for bridges!"

" Then why didn't you go get him again?" The wizard asked.

Dori harrumphed. "Good heavens can you ask! Disgusting goblins fighting and biting in the dark, people tripping over one another! I'll have you know you nearly chopped my head off just like the goblin king's back there! You want to come back with one of your 'blinding flashes' and call out ' Fight', 'Follow me everyone', and everyone should have followed then! Now we've all helter-skelter down here and here we are- without a burglar, confusticate him!"

" I think I saw him slip away when they first cornered us." Nori spoke out.

" What happened exactly? Tell Me!" The wizard stepped to Nori, who shifted uncomfortably under the wizards piercing eyes.

" I'll tell you what happened!" Thorin stepped out. " Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it!"

Alicia looked up at him.

" He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and warm hearth ever since he stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone." Thorin finished.

The girl shrugged off Kili's arms, growling like an animal at Thorin. She gave him a particularly evil glare which was emphasized by the slant of her sharp eyebrows. " Oh ye of little faith. *cough* Ya know he never gave up on you, why are you giving up on him?"

" Do not start this again woman." Thorin warned.

" Or you'll what? Leave me behind? He is your burglar. You can't just abandon him after he came this far for you."

Thorin whirled his angry glare towards the girl," Yes! Perhaps I will leave you behind along with the hobbit! You have been keeping secrets from us until we finally force the truth from you! You come from a land where its entire people are vile, evil things! Your irregular behavior is no different than that of a madman's, laughing during hostile situations, disappearing during our time of need! You are too unpredictable and undependable! You're a deranged minded, cold blooded killer, no better than an orc! You fight only when you know you can benefit from it!" Thorin yelled at her, pointing at her angrily. He made one step towards her, but thought better of it. When she started coming his way he warned, " Do not come near me again woman! You are a curse that I will not fall victim to." The mountain king was so angry and flustered, he did not have any regrets at yelling at anybody for any reason right now. Fate, it seems, has no concen for him any longer.

It took a lot of willpower not to yell back, of course she was still slightly out of breath anyway. She returned her hard stare again as she slowly slid back down. She imagined his open wounds even bigger, hanging him upside down and dipping him in water from the dead sea. She breathed in deep, looking as if she was about to pounce on the dwarf king, her nails biting into her palms from her tight fists. But then, she realized that there was some truth in his words. Looking around at the other dwarves, she tried to look in their eyes. Did they agree with Thorin? Judging by the avoiding and/or suspicious eye contact, the silence that spoke volumes, they probably did. Defeat, mixed with betrayal kept her silent and had her falling into herself and she turned away from the Company.

" Nope he's not! Not to worry! He's right here!" Suddenly the hobbit stepped from behind a tree.

" Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see you in all my life!" Gandalf greeted.

Alicia looked at him, a weary smile on her face.

" We've given you up!" Kili said.

" How did you get past the goblins?" Fili asked.

" How indeed." Dwalin muttered under his breath. Even Thorin looked impressed.

Alicia and Gandalf watched as Bilbo snuck something in his pocket." Oh you know, just sheer luck and tip-toeing quietly." Bilbo said.

" Well, what does it matter? He's back!" The grey wizard concluded.

" It matters." Thorin said. " I want to know. Why did you come back?"

It took a second for Bilbo to answer, but he did. " Look I know you doubt me, and I know you always have. You're right I often think of Bag-End. I miss my house, and my armchair and garden. See that's where I belong. That's my home. That's why I came back, because you don't have one, a home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."

Thorin looked at the hobbit like he never did before, with a sense of respect and friendship. He dipped his head to Bilbo in both an apology and acceptance. The dwarves all shared his thoughts towards their burglar, each looking at him in a different light with a mixture of sorrow, gratefulness, and even kinship.

The hobbit shifted a little under their gaze and nodded to Gandalf. He looked at his friend Alicia. They were all splattered in mud, dust and black goblin blood, but Alicia looked like she was about to faint as she leaned against a tree. Her arms dripped with red blood from various cuts, her face was pale and also sported cuts that had dried blood over them. Her breathing too quiet now, but steady. Bilbo pulled two strips of cloth from his pocket, one piece being the strip Bofur had given him before they left the Shire, and used them to try to wrap her hands. He looked up again to see tears streaming down her face mixing with blood. He had no words, not even a thank you felt necessary to say, for he knew the woman better than all the others and expected no less from her. He also heard what Thorin had said.

Gandalf smiled proudly at the both of them, as if he knew the whole thing all along and he sat Alicia's word beside her. She smiled gratefully to him and sheathed it.

Thorin watched them his eyes catching Alicia's for a moment. Her face was unreadable, except for the obvious fatigue, but she just looked back at him as if waiting for him to say something again.

She lost interest in him and looked back up the large hill, reacting to the howling and war cries of some other fast approaching enemies. Wargs. Thorin looked about at his companions, then back to the wizard, sharing the same irritation as him. " Out of the frying pan.."

" And into the fire, run. Ruuuun!" Gandalf called out.

The hobbit and Kili pulled Alicia up and ushered her along down the hill again. The company weaved around any boulder they couldn't climb over.

As fast as the group tried to move, they simply couldn't outrun the wargs barreling down the hill after them. Bilbo turned back in time to see one particularly fast warg jump over his head from a rock, skid to a stop and growled ferociously at him. He looked positively frightened as the best charged, yet he was still level headed enough to draw his own sword and skewer the beast through it's head. Another beast chased after Balin, who yelped as the thing gained on him. Thorin cut it down just in time before it's jaws caught the scarlet clad dwarf.

Ori had one on his tail. He expertly swung his hammer over his head and clobbered the growling warg dead in the head. He didn't waste any time congratulating himself though, he just kept running.

Gloin and Nori skidded to a halt up ahead. The turned and waved for the others to stop.

" It's the edge of the cliff!" Gloin yelled.

" We're trapped!" Nori added.

Alicia looked out into the wide open wilderness that stretched out below them. If only she had a gliding suit, or a big wind glider for all of them.

The wizard turned to the company, " Up into the trees! Hurry! Come on! Bilbo, climb!"

_That's only going to help us for so long!_ The woman thought to herself. She had used the same tactic to fend off zombies, but zombies were slower and stupider. Wargs are like big wolves.

Bifur threw a rock at one warg, hitting on it's head, but that only slowed it down.

Alicia watched Nori use Dwalin's head as a one-up to the highest branch. The rogue dwarf wrapped his arms and legs around the limb as he tried to keep climbing. Alicia looked for her hobbit friend. When she found him, she ran to him and helped yank his sword free of the warg's dead head. Dori gave Balin a boost, hoisting him into a tree. Kili easily shifted his weight to get him higher. Even Bombur managed to swing his girth up to a low hanging branch and clamber up higher.

" They're coming!" Thorin yelled.

" Ya don't say." Alicia growled under her breath as her and the hobbit rejoined the group. If she didn't look up, she would have thought that they all disappeared!

Bilbo scrambled up into a tree with Dori and Bofur, Alicia half climbed, half yanked up in a tree with Oin, Bifur and Ori. As soon as she got to a comfortable and stable spot, the wargs came.

They ran right past them at first, turning around and sniffing for their prey till they looked up. Frustrated snarls erupted from the ground as the company yelled to hang on. Alicia looked for Gandalf. She could barely see his outline in the farthest tree. He looked like he was talking to his staff head or something.

They began to jump up into the trees as high as they could, nipping at branches or anything else in the way of getting to their intended victims. The dwarves hollered in alert and in fright even as branches broke and the wargs looked as if they were getting closer in by inch. They were adding so much extra weight against the trees that the pines began to shake and sway, threatening to fall. Balin grunted at the closeness of one warg. Alicia showed off her own vicious growl at one warg that came too close. She thought again about how easy it would be to alleviate their problem with couple of assault rifles. Alas, she only had her hand guns. She would not waste her few bullets yet.

Dwalin and Nori were almost shaken out of their trees by two massive wargs trying to get to them. The wargs could jump nerve rackingly high for their comfort. There was some gravelly voice in the back, seemingly giving commands to the enemy monsters. Suddenly the pine that Bilbo, Bofur, and Dori were on could take no more and its roots started uplifting, pitching the tree to one side. The trees crashed into Alicia's tree, raining pines, needles and limbs down on her and the three others. Unfortunately the weight of Bilbo's tree was too much for Alicia's and hers began to uproot and timber to the side. Dwarves from all around her yelled as they jumped from limb to limb, grabbing others and trying to stay balanced. The woman smacked against the tree's middle before sliding to another branch. Dori was right under her and Bilbo swung ahead of her. Then Dwalin and Nori's tree fell, allowing them to join her group. Yet, they couldn't stop, that tree began to fall too. They quickly jumbled to the next and the next, like dominos. Alicia's grip slipped one time. She bounced off one branch before Gloin caught her and swung her to another branch. She tried not to step on Bifur's fingers, who was hanging under her. She helped pull him up next to his cousin. Bombur clung to the tree next to Gandalf for dear life, sweat dripping down his fluffy face. Fili hung in front of the girl while Bilbo was by Thorin and Balin.

To her despair, they were on the very last tree, teetering between the cliff and the wargs. " This puts a whole new definition to the phrase 'stuck between a rock and a hard place.'" She muttered to herself.

A warg jumped up to nip at her foot. Dwalin dropped down, covering her with his body and giving the warg a nose breaking kick.

She had no plan for getting out of this situation except her guns. Even that was a big 'If'. Maybe she could scare them off with the loud popping sound.

Something alit with fire fell from above and scared off the nearest wargs. She looked up to see Gandalf lighting up pine cones.

" Fili!" He called and dropped some to him. Then he lit more and dropped them to everyone. Alicia smiled as the fire spread, forming a line that kept the feral beasts away.

There was a roar of anger from the ground. The survivor looked around to see orcs scrambling and trying to regain control over their wargs. The dwarves let out a loud cheer, for no other enemy even tried to come close to them. However, the triumph was short lived. Their last tree began to lurch back. Dori almost fell if Kili and Alicia hadn't grabbed him. The tree fell almost completely horizontal.

The company barely hung on. They dangled over the long drop off the cliff. One of Alicia's legs dangled in the air. She inadvertently looked down, though it wasn't the height that scared her. It was not finding a way to slow her descent or not getting everyone off the tree in time before it fell. She painstakingly pulled herself back up just in time to hear Ori cry out in fear, then suddenly fall. Alicia's heart skipped a beat till she saw him grab a tight hold of his eldest brother's leg. But then Dori's grip started to falter too, his face pinched together from the stress.

Alicia's eyes grew wide and she searched around for some way to help. There was another thick branch above the dwarves. She got on the one Dori was hanging on to, and used the thick branch on top to help balance. Carefully stepping over the dwarf's hands with on leg, she braced herself.

" Master Gandalf!" Dori cried in a panic. His eyes shot open when he felt two bony, long nailed hands bite into his shoulders. Alicia used every muscle and strength in her body and hauled the elderly dwarf up onto his stomach. She kept her hands on his back to help balance herself. Ori had become one with his brother's leg. She looked around for some way to get him safely onto the tree.

Gandalf lowered his staff down to Ori. The wool clad dwarf grabbed hold of the wizard's staff and between her and the wizards strength, Ori was pulled up to a thicker branch. Dori started to slip again and she heard him whimper. She fell back over him, and grabbed his flanks tightly. " We shall either be eaten or fall to our deaths!" He whimpered in a breaking and choking voice.

" No. I've got you, and I'm not going to let you go." She pulled him back up a little more to regain balance on his gut. In a few more careful maneuvers, The elderly dwarf was fully laying on the branch length-wise. She smiled at him the most comforting smile she could manage when he looked at her. Then they both turned to the shout of the other dwarves. They saw Thorin walking down the length of the tree and then breaking into a run when he touched ground.

_'Why is he leaving us here?!'_ She thought in frustration.

He ran and yelled, only to get smacked down by a white orc on a white warg. She knew that that enemy must be Azog himself. It frustrated her even more. _' So he's gone to settle some score while his company dangles over their deaths!'_ Survivor guide 101 says you help your friends live first every time before facing an enemy you're not sure you can win against yet.

The dwarf king tried to get back up, he turned to face Azog again, crouching into defense position. He was not quick enough again to block a mace to the face. Balin screamed a dramatic 'Noooo' for his old friend. The dwarves Company looked on in horror at their king's suffering.

She sighed and looked up into the night sky whispering, " Help him Heaveanly Father. I'm calling for you. Help us, tell me what to do."

Dori Coughed from the ashes in the air and looked around at the others. They didn't seem to be in any better condition than himself. The girl beside him started mumbling and he looked at her oddly, _' Who is she talking to?'_ There was a gentle breeze blowing. She opened her eyes and looked out with an unusual sense of calm that made the dwarf even more curious and confused.

Bilbo felt a sudden bravado well up inside him. Being smaller, he had a better advantage of balancing on the tree. He saw the white warg clutch Thorin in it's massive jaws, causing the leader to cry out in agony.

Dwalin called out for Thorin, recklessly trying to get up, but the branch broke under his weight and sent him swinging under.

Thorin was still not done yet. He swung his sword onto the snout of the warg, it tossed him onto the rocks as a result.

Another orc swung down and stalked over the Thorin, it's sword drawn. Before it was able to behead the dwarf, Bilbo tackled the orc down. They wrestled on the ground before the hobbit demonstrated a fury no one ever thought him possible of. He swiftly killed the orc minion in a few stabs if his sword.

He stumbled in front of Azog, blocking him from Thorin.

" Quickly! Come on! Everyone let's go!" Alicia commanded. She helped Dori up to the middle of the tree. She pulled up Ori and ushered him forward. Each dwarf she shook them out of their stunned despair and rallied them up to help the hobbit. Dwalin however was still dangling from his half broken branch.

She came and stooped by him, searching for a way to help.

" Go on lass!" He called out. He should have known better that she wouldn't. His branch was breaking fast and there was really only one way she could help him by herself…. Leverage.

Quickly she pulled off the long leather strap across her shoulder, tying one end to his belt and the other she held tight and stepped back.

Gandalf, from his perch, spotted the golden moth from before. Help had arrived. He looked around and into the sky and saw the aerial saviors he had been waiting for.

Dwalin looked at her, not understanding her intent till she stepped back. His eyes grew wide. One content nod, one sweet smile, one last step…

The gruff warrior shook his head 'No', but she did it anyway. She jumped back, using her weight and the leverage of the tree versus his branch, Dwalin was pulled and swung up like the motion of a trebuchet and got a good boost towards the cliff edge. He yelled out again when his feet touched solid ground. It was a roar of both battle lust and vengeful outrage. He joined his companions, making sure to hack down any enemy his eyes laid upon. Hacking, skewering, cutting and breaking, he was unstoppable and his rage at the pale orc, his dearest friend and his brother nearly losing their lives, at the young girl who paid a warrior's price for him, all fuelled his stubborn goal that if they should fall tonight, it would not be so easily done.

Despite all their efforts, all their magnificent battle skills, rage and determination, the orcs still outnumbered them. They were surrounded again. When all seemed lost, they heard loud cries like eagles' calls in the air. Looking up, they saw giant birds, eagles the likes and sizes of which none of them had ever seen before! They swooped down, catching wargs and riders in their massive talons and dropping them over the cliff. Some pushed down trees atop other fleeing enemies. After clearing out most of the enemies, the eagles turned to the company. They gently lifted them into the air and dropped them onto the backs of other eagles.

Gandalf watched with relief that his friends had finally arrived. One eagle called out to Gandalf, he looked up and smiled a wide smile that felt like it's been missing for years.

On top of that eagle sat Alicia, grinning ear-to-ear as the wind blew about her. To someone who didn't know any better, she looked like that was where she belonged, on eagle's wings.

The survivor had seen many things in her life so far. Beautiful and priceless moments that can never be lost and horrific experiences that will never be forgotten; but nothing…. no roller coaster, no air plane, speed boat ride or simple cherished moment with her friends could compare to the beauty and freedom that she was now immersed in. The colorful sunrise greeted them as they flew. The majestic mountain range wished under them, and for the first time since the downfall of the modern world, Alicia felt free and more alive than ever. She would fight wargs and orcs again any time to experience this again. The eagles gracefully veered around the valley walls. She watched the other dwarves, who had their faces plastered with fear and panic. The eagle could sense Alicia's kindred spirit and it called out happily again as it took her around and about. It was as if all her fears, worries and burdens were left behind in the fire to be burned away. As Alicia soaked it all in, she came to another realization that she would write about in her journal. With great long sufferings, comes wordless moments of true happiness. Whatever problems people face on a daily basis, if we see them through to the end, with undying love for our passions, hope to make dreams come true, and the faith to know that heaven has plans tailor made for us if we keep following the signs, the results are well worth the pain. And the inspiration planted in those who have witnessed, who won't forget even when you're gone, that is the best kind of immortality anyone could ask for.

**I ended it a little differently maybe. In this chapter, I was trying t make th thougts, emotions and actions of each person clear and relatable to the audience. I wanted the audience to be able to fully understand and be immersed in the mixed emotions flooding in each scene, the drama, excitement , etc. in each scene. Please tell me if that worked well enough or not. Suggestions are welcomed. Thanks for all your support! PM me any time!**


	13. Author's Note QA

Hello Once again to everyone!

First off, I will give a shout out to all my biggest supporters and fans:

Gladoo89,

SexySelena666,

Rwisher,

Ari,

SavetheSharks,

HanVanHelsing,

Theta-Mcrbride

Potterlortgirl09

Teres

Ulyana15

Music-Maniac-At-18

GUEST (You know who you are ^_^)

Renovek

Thank you all for helping me polish my storytelling/writing skills!

Now, This page is really just a shout out and Q/A page. For some I can't seem to PM but I want you to know that I appreciate your reviews. Even though I have temporarily stopped, I do still like the reviews from anybody and everybody, they are very much appreciated. I enjoy discussing ideas with everyone either here or preferably P.M. if that's possible.(Is there a way to email Guests back? please tell me 0_o)

Constructive criticism is also welcome. If there is something you have noticed odd or suggest possible actions for future chapters, please tell me those as well so that I may take them into consideration.

I have had questions about Alicia as a character.

Alicia is just like any other 23 year old American girl. She spent her time chasing her dreams before the Zombies came. When they did, he had a strange surge of excitement like most young adult these days when they get to kill zombz. But when the reality of it started to click in, she realized that she must buckle down and adapt or die. Alicia was naturally a very disciplined person to begin with, so it wasn't too hard for her to make the necessary changes. She had many military veterans that she learned from as well. That's not to say she was always strong, she is still human and therefore does have her moments of weakness. She spent two years in the zombie world, which is plenty of time for a human to change to a new lifestyle, and so she has grown accustomed to sudden change of plans.

I wanted Alicia to be a character of versatility and flexibility. Able to change gears in a second when need be. For example, Chapter one was her running from a typical horde of zombies that came after a marauder ambush. The only thing that mattered was keeping from being surrounded and making too much noise before she killed off the first horde. Naturally, she pushes herself to find safety. She strategically kills off the zombz just before crossing into Middle Earth. ( I will explain how she came to Middle Earth in future chapters) I didn't explain it now because I wanted my readers to relate and 'see' Alicia in her situation of loss. When she finally gets a moment to breathe, she is exhausted and falls to the ground to assess the next problem: Where am I?

That's when Bilbo finds her and the hobbit's tale begins. Usually, there are two way a human reacts to sudden changes that they are unfamiliar with. One is by allowing fear to take over and panic ( like Disney's Snow White when she enters the dark forest) The second is more of a soldier's reaction ( Like Jed from the movie RED DAWN) To stay calm, gather information and find out what to do next. The second reaction is what Alicia is trained to do. Factor in the immense exhaustion and now she at the point where she id desperate and will accept help from anybody, few questions asked.

**NOTE: This is based off of my personal observations and research. There is a chance of me being wrong somewhere.**

Why is Alicia more a background character than the main?

I thought about how a person would behave at first during their first hours of an unfamiliar setting. I have noticed that even the strongest leaders or most impulsive young adults will suddenly become more introverted and stick to the sidelines until they have a feel of what's going on. Which is what Alicia does at first. This is why she comes on as very mysterious, lady of few words. She doesn't want to give away too much about herself too soon and she doesn't quite know how to deal with the people of Middle Earth who to her, are no more than story book characters that are now standing before her eyes. I didn't make her the main character at first because of this. She really didn't know what to do and decided to just go with the flow for a while. I wanted her to 'blossom' as the story went on.

She doesn't understand fully what's going on or what these people want, but she does still have her own personal mission: Get back home safely. This is the small thread of familiarity that she holds onto for a while. Also remember that I have made her a Godly woman. So she has a very strong and routed sense of faith in which if something doesn't happen like she wants it, then there's something else she must do. Example: She tries to go back home after the dinner with the dwarves, even if she had a small window of opportunity to join. But she could never find the path that takes her home, therefore, there must be something in Middle Earth that God want her to do. And perhaps even Gandalf may discover another way to get her back home. So, with nothing left to do and nowhere to go, she joins the company.

I do think this is a good question and if my readers would like, I can center the story more around her. I was thinking that it would be too self-centered if I only talked about her all the time when she is actually just a part of something bigger: Erebor. Please let me know.

Why doesn't Alicia talk more about the zombies when she first met everyone? Wouldn't she be asking about them?

As I mentioned, Alicia is trying to wrap her head around this medieval world she was thrown into. The Shire was the first place she went to and you know how everyone lives mostly peaceful lives there. She didn't want to ruin or make matters worse by running around like Paul saying " The zombies are coming! The zombies are coming! Board up and load up!" She is still so young and appreciative of the simple things as well, so the Shire and the other people she comes in contact with is almost surreal to her. She feels like an outsider amongst the company, she wants to impress them and prove herself so she keeps her thoughts to herself mostly and pays more attention to just learning from the others.

The story as a whole doesn't seem to flow well.

This I understand what you mean. As in it doesn't fully add up or the actions of the characters are too choppy. Such a common mistake I'm afraid. I have found a few and hopefully modified them better. However, being the writer, everything already makes sense for me. I need to make it make sense to my readers. So, If you could, please PM me or write another review of course that is more specific to what you find choppy and what you think would be a good change for it.

Perhaps this might have been unnecessary…

My point is I am reading your reviews and actively taking them into consideration. I will be happy to answer any more questions you have. Perhaps there is something you would like to happen in the story? I'm open to that too!


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